The Ronins' Return
by stargazer86
Summary: All hell is about to break loose when Sage discovers a girl in his class possesses a Wildfire armor. Now the Ronins must bring her to their side when they discover the Dynasty has under gone a revolt by Radicals. Rewritten
1. Chapter 1

**The Ronins' Return**

**By stargazer86**

**DISCLAIMER**

I do not own the _Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers_. The show is the rightful property of Sunrise Entertainment and is licensed under the title _Ronin Warriors_ by Bandai Ent. and Graz Ent. companies.

Any characters featured in this story part from the original series are mine and are as such subject to my ownership. Any use of my characters without my express permission will be considered plagiarism and abuse and will be reported to staff.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Ryo opened his eyes and took a panicked breath. He shot up from dead sleep, startling Whiteblaze from the foot of his bed. He could feel the cool breeze of the midnight air wafting through the room over his shoulder, but his skin was still hot.

For a moment the Ronin leader sat there in silence, taking in calming breaths. He took a moment to realize that the seats were saturated with cold sweat. After several moments, he climbed from his bed and wondered warily to the bathroom.

He instantly regretted turning on a light, which blinded him for a moment. But Ryo squinted through the blinding blaze and slashed his face with cold water. Whiteblaze continued to wait by the end of the bed, ears perked forward and listening as the Ronin leader turned out the light and wondered out of the bathroom again.

"Oh…" He groaned. "My head…"

Ryo sat down next to the tiger and held his throbbing head in his hands. He wanted to kick himself for not getting any aspirin while he was up.

Whiteblaze leaned in and rubbed his head against his charge's shoulder. The action was met with a hand that missed his fuzzy brow and lightly rubbed his cold wet nose instead. As far as Ryo was concerned, the young man was not completely awake yet.

Then came the faint mumble. Whiteblaze's head snapped about at the words, words he hadn't heard in a very long time, but was completely aware that their meaning meant something awry was about to happen.

"I…haven't had a dream like that…for a year now…" Ryo murmured, half awake, yet rather coherent.

A look of utter shock seemed to flicker through the animal's eyes as he listened more. But the Ronin leader fell to his side and blinked lazily in distant thought at the far wall. He was slowly drifting back to sleep, regardless of the consequences of possibly dreaming again.

The tiger watched and listened closely, as Ryo Sanada's breath became faint…and his eyes fluttered close again.

There was a sound from the bathroom. Whiteblaze looked up through the slightly cracked door to see the faint outline of another man standing in the room, also slightly drunk from sleep…yet more awake than his charge was.

The light flickered on and Sage looked in on Ryo to see if he might have woken the other man up. When he was sure, the warrior of Halo turned away from the door and went quietly to his business of bring order to his own inner demons that came in the night.

Whiteblaze laid his head to rest on the bed again, watching and listening into the night.

Something had shaken the balance.

It was the only way the armors could have affected them.

* * *

Sage sighed as he heard the bells ring. He had wanted to stay by the window and bask in the warm sunlight, but classes were beginning again from break. The remaining students took their seats towards the front of the room.

He sat down in his and lowered his head. Last night hadn't been a good night for sleep. The blonde sighed again and started to close his eyes when the door opened and their professor walked in.

"Class, attention please." Professor Himeto set his books down on the table in front of him and cleared his throat. "I have good news, the school recently accepted a transfer for an American exchange student. I'd like you all to meet Miss Jackson."

Sage looked up as the door opened and a young woman walked in with the escort of a counselor. The students all looked at each other after taking in the site. For someone who was American, she looked a lot like Japanese. Her hair was to the small of her back and as black as night, with fine bangs that flared off to one side. She wasn't very tall, but it was clear she was leggy in a sense…and nicely shaped as according to the Han'A High school uniform she wore.

When she turned to look at the class, the essence of her Japanese appearance vanished. She was very American now, with bright pristine blue eyes and the sharper shape of her face. Her skin was also lighter in color, but not completely Caucasian white.

Sage could clearly assume that her lineage was marked with Japanese genes though.

_She looks like she could be a sister or something to Ryo. _He thought with a little smile. Maybe he'd talk to her later and see about having the two meet for his own comparison. It was cute to think so.

"Class, this is Lea Yotomia Jackson." Himeto informed again. Sage nodded when he heard her Japanese middle name. "Please, Lea, tell us something about yourself."

Lea looked over to the teacher and smiled weakly. "Um…" She looked at the class before clearing her throat. All air of uncertainly seemed to vanish around her as she looked up again and addressed the class in delicately spoken Japanese. "I live in New York...outside the major city with my parents. My father is a police officer and my mother works in landscaping."

Himeto nodded and motioned for her to towards the students. "Please, choose any seat you like. I know that the one in the 3rd row has been vacant for some time."

Lea nodded and walked down the aisle towards the empty seat right across from Sage. The blonde smiled as she sat down and leaned in.

"I'm also Japanese-American." He said kindly. "My name is Sage."

Lea looked over and smiled a little. "Nice to meet you." She said as he offered her his hand. She frowned a little bit, considering shaking it before reaching out and clasping his outstretched hand.

Sage snapped his hand back as if it had been touched by fire.

Lea also lurched away, looking wide eyed at the young man. Her eyes had ice over, first stunned, and now turned to steel as she kept blinking at him.

Sage whipped his head around to look at her again from his hand all feeling of exhaustion has vanished from his body. He felt power…power from an armor. One that he knew—

"Mr. Date, are you paying attention?" Himeto demanded from the front of the room were he was reading out of his own private text. "Mrs. Jackson has already had a tour of the building. You can socialize after class." He informed in a cool voice.

Sage nodded as he opened his text book and looked down at the page in front of him. But the words were nothing more than garble on paper as he kept thinking. Lea had turned away from him and was looking ahead at the front of the room…trying not to glance at him out of the corner of his eyes.

_Its an armor. _He thought. _I know it is. I know what one…but it's been so long…_ Sage took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and drew on his inner powers. His ability to see auras. He opened then again and concentrated on the feeling, finding Lea's amid the room and singling in on it. When he turned to look, her aura was tinted red, and not various shades of neutral colors among the other students.

_There can be no way…_ Sage thought as the feeling came back to him. The only other person with an aura like hers was Ryo.

"Mr. Date? Will you answer the question?"

* * *

Rowen wandered into the room with his lunch in hand, finding Ryo sitting at his desk reading through a book. "How are you doing with algebra?" He asked.

Ryo shook his head. "I'm too tired." He murmured, letting his head fall on his text and closed his eyes. "I couldn't sleep at all last night."

"Did Whiteblaze keep you man?" Rowen asked as he pulled up a chair and sat with it's back as a means to rest his chest and arms on besides the exhausted young man.

"No. He hasn't bothered me in a while. I…I just couldn't sleep. I know I had a dream last night but…" Ryo sat up and leaned back. "I can't remember what it was about for the life of me."

Rowen smiled a little as his lunch dangled from his hand. "Come on. Get your food and we'll go to the roof. You can catch a power nap before class starts again."

Ryo nodded as he closed his book and stuffed it away in his bag. The raven haired man thus produced a neatly backed lunch in one hand and began to stand up when Sage appeared in the door way.

"Ryo! Rowen!" He called quickly.

"Hey Sage, how was class?" Rowen asked, but found his question fell on deaf ears as Sage marched across the room and grabbed Ryo by the arm.

He looked ready to jump out of his skin as he let go.

"Dear god." Sage whispered in horror.

"What?" Ryo asked, blinking in confusion. "Did I do something wrong?"

Rowen stood up and leaned into Sage's stunned face. "What's goin' on?"

Sage shook his head quickly. "We need to find Cye and Kento." He said under his breath. "We need to talk about this…"

"Kento is on the roof waitin' for us and Cye will be out of his class in thirty minutes." Rowen informed. "What's your problem man?"

The blonde took a deep breath before reaching out and clasping Ryo's shoulder again, this time not snatching it back. A look of sudden shock and clear horror came across his face, which normally didn't read such sudden emotions.

"I found…another armor." He whispered under his breath to the two of them. Ryo lurched back out of Halo's reach just as Rowen straightened up in surprise.

"Another armor?" They said together.

* * *

"Dude, are you alright?" Kento demanded.

Sage shook his head as he took a long drink from his mug. "No. I can't shake the feeling." He said, leaning against the fence that surrounded the roof.

Rowen was standing next to him, arms crossed and a toothpick in his mouth. "You're certain this is what you saw?" He harked.

Sage nodded this time. "I saw her aura…and I felt the armor's presence. I reacted to her the same way I would to Ryo's." He said. "The same touch of energy that crosses in contact. The signature of our armor's powers."

Cye was sitting on the bench next to them with Ryo, listening intently. "Then why didn't you feel it the way you are use to feeling it come off of Ryo."

"Our armors have been inactive for a year." Sage said. "We suppressed that power. So the feeling isn't as strong. Hers is not suppressed. It is the same as Ryo's."

Rowen's eyes narrowed. "If we carry a certain sign with us about our armors…then that means this girl is wearin' a Wildfire armor?" He said in a deathly voice. Ryo flinched as he reached the conclusion himself.

Rowen turned and looked out over the yard below. "Where should I look?" He demanded from Sage. The Warrior of Halo turned also and glanced over the quad, scanning the area for the aura. There was nothing there. He shook his head and started to pull back when he sensed it. Her aura. He's head whipped up to look across the quad to the other roof directly across from them.

There, standing by the opposite fence and looking out over the city, was the girl.

Sage started to open his mouth when something slammed into him.

Halo fell back on the ground, wincing.

"SAGE!" Ryo and Cye yelled together, rushing in as he started to get up. Kento was sitting over him, frozen in mid sip of his drink.

"Jesus Christ! What was that?" He demanded.

Sage shook the feeling off, but was overwhelmed with a huge headache. He sat up and held his head in his hands, letting his armor's powers release in him. The pain started to dull as soon as he did.

He looked up with hazy vision to see Lea with her back still too them. The wind blow her raven black hair and skirt as she turned her head and looked in his direction. Rowen looked back between him and her, his sharp vision catching the expression on her face.

A look of acknowledgement…

"Sage! What happened?" Rowen demanded. "Stop using your power!"

Sage stared in complete shock in Lea's direction.

_So you do have an armor._ Her thought came across the gap to Sage's head. He gasped in horror as the young woman then looked away and started walking towards the stairs back to class.

"SAGE!" Rowen and Ryo yelled.

Sage looked up at them, horrified. "She…knows what I am…"

"Sage…you just fell over! You cracked your head on the ground!" Cye said quickly. "What happened? You look like someone hit you with a brick…"

Rowen turned away from the fence and looked down at Halo. "You heard her say something to you?" He demanded, watching Ryo get up and wonder down the fence line. Before they could say something, the Ronin leader took off running to catch the young woman as she went down the stairs.

"Ryo! Stop!" Kento yelled, taking off after him.

Sage looked up at Rowen and nodded slowly. "She…must be…telepathic or something…"

Rowen kneeled next to him and watched as Cye check to see if Sage had split his head open. "You say she has an armor?" He said quickly. "You shook hands with her and made contact…"

Sage nodded.

"I think she just tried to seal a link between your armor and hers…" Rowen whispered. Cye's head shot up in surprise.

Halo's eyes widen in realization. "She…forced me to let go of my powers! To seal it!"

"Come on!" Rowen ordered, grabbing his arm and pulled him up. The three took off in the same direction Ryo and Kento had gone.

* * *

Ryo lunged down the stairs and came to a stop in the middle of the empty hall. Kento came barreling down behind him, throwing his empty drink in the nearest trash can. They stood there in, looking around.

"Ryo…we're chasing a girl that we don't know what she looks like!" Kento muttered.

Ryo looked back. "Armors sense armors right?" He produced his crystal, which for some reason he had been compelled to pick up this morning before going to school. He had no idea what had possessed him to do so.

"Dude, the girl just laid a mental smack down on Sage! You think she is gonna be nice about this when we other Ronins comes strolling up to her!" Hardrock hissed as they went marching down the hall.

Ryo clutched his armor orb tighter as he moved. "We can take her." He said quickly.

"WOAH!" Kento's hand lashed out and caught the Ronin leader by the shoulder. "Stop right there!" He barked, dragging Ryo to an abrupt stop in the middle of hall, regardless of who was watching them look like total asses.

"This is a girl we're talking about! I'll all for getting to the bottom of this too!" Kento muttered. "Just cool off for a second. Maybe we can reason with her…"

"Do you remember anything about Lady Kayura?" Ryo asked, slightly annoyed.

Hardrock stood there and blinked for a second before realization hit him upside the head. "Oh."

Ryo's eye brows shot up in a mocking expression of realization as well.

"Oh..." Kento blinked. "Um…I guess…let's go get her." He said.

Ryo nodded when Rowen and the others came around the corner. "Stop. Just let her go." He ordered.

"Come on Ro! She could be part of the Dynasty." Kento muttered.

"No." Rowen said, this time more sternly. "Leave her alone." He shot Ryo a questioning look before grabbing their sleeves and dragging them into the nearest classroom, devoid of other students and prying eyes and ears. Sage and Cye followed after them.

"Look, she was testing Sage." Rowen explained. "With our powers suppressed like they are, she must not have been very sure he was a Ronin Warrior. She forced him to release it and established a link between their armors like we have."

_You mean like this?_ Kento asked the group.

_Suppress it! _Sage thought back, snappy.

Kento slumped as he turned down his power. "So what are we going to do?" He asked.

"We're going to leave her alone." Rowen said, looking over at Ryo. "She only meant to force Sage's hand in releasin' his power. If she meant us any real harm, we should have seen it comin' right?"

Cye nodded. "We can sense bad intentions miles away. She isn't giving any off."

"For right now, she only knows Sage is a Ronin Warrior." Rowen informed, "So we're goin' let it be at that. She'll come to us in her own time…if she wants to talk to us."

Ryo crossed his arms. "How the hell did she hit Sage like that?"

Rowen shrugged. "I don't know." He said. "I do know that once she figured it out, she looked really weak."

Cye scratched the back of his head. "Do you think she might have a special power that allows her to do that?" He asked. "I mean…unless we wanted to throw a wall of emotions at each other…nothing like that could have caused Sage to topple over like that."

Sage nodded. "I think she might have other powers outside of the armor." He said. He sighed as the bells rung overhead.

"I guess we'd better talk about this later." Ryo muttered.

* * *

AN: And at last, the long awaited rewrite of _The Ronins' Return_. The being of the saga, the introduction of Lea, the alternate universe story that takes directly after the TV series…This is the beginning of what is currently a 7 book series of the Ronin warriors that cover near to six years of the Ronin Warriors and the new cast of characters. The Ronin Warriors are around 16 (at their respective ages). Just to give you a hint, and some information I didn't have at the beginning has been worked into the story. For those interested, http/phoenixknght86. has a few drawings of Lea in the **SCRAPS** section. Most if not all concept art will go there. I will have drawings up of school uniforms and all that jazz soon.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

-Stargazer86


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors.**

**Chapter Two**

Mia froze in the door way of her study. There before her was a million books scattered across her table and the five Ronin Warriors going through notes. Behind her computer was Rowen of Strata, basking in the glow of the screen with Cye standing over him.

"What is going on?" She asked in exasperation.

They five of them looked up at once from their work. They still dressed in their school uniforms and leafing through books. Rowen craned his neck around the computer. "Oh, good. Maybe you can help us."

Mia set her bag down on the cluttered table and blinked in surprise. "Help? With what? What are you doing?"

"Is there a chance there could be other armors like ours?" Cye asked.

Sage stood up. "Not just other armors, identical armors, worn by women."

Mia looked back and forth between the two, now utterly confused. "What? You are making no sense. Why would you want to know that?"

Cye sighed and stepped out from behind the desk. "I'm going to make dinner while they fill you in." He informed as he made his escape. Just as soon as he was gone, Ryo cleared his throat and pointed to Sage to being their explanation.

* * *

Mia set her tea cup down and sighed in exasperation. "You are sure this girl has an armor?"

"Very." Sage said, holding his cup in the palms of his hands in front of him. "She has an armor. I know it."

The red head sat back and touched her chin in thought. "There were rumblings a while ago that there was certainly more to the prophecy that predicted." She bit her lip as she tried to recall. "If I'm no mistaken, my grandfather was not the only man working on the legend of the Ronin Warriors. There were several opponents to my grandfather's theories…and those who dug deeper to find more relevant information."

"Would this be at the university?" Cye asked, being he and Rowen had unlimited access to the library's immense stores of information with their higher classes.

Mia nodded. "The university was the center of all this debate. We are fortunate that so much on ancient mythos and legend is at our beck and call. I'll go tomorrow and begin some research…"

"Mia," Ryo looked up. "Why didn't your grandfather decided to prosue the legend to it's fullest if there is the possibility of more Ronins?"

Mia smiled a little as she stared at her cup. "He was determined to quickly find the current Ronin Warriors as soon as possible to prevent Talpa from taking over the Mortal Realm. 'Time is of the essence', he would usually say when I asked him why we were so focused on this research." She rubbed one of her eyes and looked up at the Ronins gathered around her table. "My grandfather was the foremost expert on your history…so there may still be data left behind if it wasn't completely destroyed in his old office. It could be in storage."

"We'll help you with that tomorrow then." Rowen informed as he stood up. "I'm upstairs if anyone needs me." He said and left the table.

Cye and Kento both stood up and started to clear the table, just as Mia took her tea and returned to the study.

Ryo rubbed his temples as he yawned slightly. "I…need to get some sleep." He muttered, getting up with a groan. Sage looked up at him with the same exhausted expression.

"Not been sleeping well either?" Sage asked.

The Ronin leader shook his head as he wondered over to the stairs and leaned on the banister as they talked. "I don't know why I'm not get enough sleep. I could have sworn I was only up in the middle of the night for a few minutes."

"I was up for about 20…" Halo replied. "I couldn't get back to sleep."

Ryo nodded before starting up the stairs. "I've got homework to do…I'll see ya tomorrow."

"We've got gym tomorrow." Sage's voice called as Ryo reached the balcony. Wildfire stopped dead in confusion, trying to reason why that fact was so important.

"You'll see her tomorrow." Sage said after a moment to help the Ronin's thought process along.

Ryo blinked in surprise. "You're right!"

* * *

"Oh god…I'm so tired." Ryo yawned as he sat down on the bench with the team. Kedo nudged him in the side for good measure, muttering about staying up half the night.

"Come on man. I'm on three hours a sleep. You can pull through this."

Ryo shook his head. "I'm not going to be much use to you guys…" He muttered, rubbing his eyes. The sun seemed to have become twice its size in the middle of the day and was now beating down on them full force.

"Hey, did you see the new girl in Sage's class?" Kedo asked.

Ryo looked up. "No…Sage was suppose to come over and point her out."

Kedo pointed across the field to the opposite side of the track. Beyond the group of guys practicing their batting, the girls were doing some warm up laps.

"The one towards the front, with the black hair."

"Kedo…we're in Japan. All the girls here have black hair."

Sage wondered up with a bat over his shoulder and a thick batter's hat rammed onto his head. "The assistance coach wants the soccer team at the end of the field. I think the girls are playing against you guys today."

"Sweet!" Kedo pumped a fist in the air. "You know Sage, all the pretty girls are in your class."

Sage rolled his eyes as he dropped the bat to his side and sat down next to Ryo. "Okay. She's over there, next to Amiga. The really long haired one with it pulled back into a pony tail."

Ryo looked up, blinking the sleep from his eyes and spotting the girl in question. Lea was indeed in class the following day and keeping a hell of a lot of distance between herself and Sage.

"Isn't she just sweet?" Kedo asked.

"Dude, you need to get a life." Ryo informed, getting up as the coach waved at them. The rest of the guys got up and wondered over to the field, leaving Sage and several other baseball players to their own game.

* * *

"I can't believe we're playing against the soccer team." Amiga muttered.

Lea looked from where she was sitting on the ground, stretching. "Why are we doing that?" she asked.

"Because the coaches have nothing better to do than to see us girls get our asses kicked by the boys…" Amiga growled as she sat down and started to stretch as well. "With our coach out sick, we're subject to what ever the guy's coach want to do."

Lea frowned. "That is kinda brutal."

"You're American right?" Amiga asked. "Do you play soccer over there?"

She nodded. "Yeah. But not against the school's soccer team."

Amiga sighed a little as she nodded her head towards the on coming guys team. "You see the tall one there? He's got shoulder length hair? That's Ryo Sanada. He'll kill us all."

Lea stood up and put her hands on her hips. "What? Why?"

"Because he is the captain of the team." Someone behind them informed. "If he gets the ball and starts to kick, get the hell out of his way."

Amiga stood up and pulled back her air into a pony tail. "He has put people into the nurse's office. I'll be surprised if we get out of this one with only three girls down."

Lea looked over the team as the guys moved into position on the field an started doing practice kicks. "If we work together and try to not be scared, we could through this together."

Amiga blinked at the American student for a moment before whistling. "HUDDLE UP!" She screamed.

Lea balked as she was sudden shoved into a circle of girls.

"All right, yank. You've got two minutes to tell us how to take them down."

"Uh…"

* * *

Sage snatched the ball out of the air as it came flying from the sky. He didn't even hear the coach call the out as he pitched it back into the game from the outfield. Due to his skills as a Ronin Warrior, he was very good at baseball. As a batter, he had a record setting series of homeruns in one game…and was the suburb outfielder for long distance running.

He turned to the sound of the coach's whistle in the distance.

Ryo wasn't hard to pick out among the other players. He was equally as fast and always had a center position in the field. After surveying the area, Sage found Lea down on defense.

_She won't talk to me._ Sage thought as he recalled this morning when he said hi and got a cold muttered hello. Apparently finding out he had an armor had tore a gap between the two of them.

Sage turned back to his game, snatching a ball out of the air at it suddenly came into his line of site.

* * *

"Dear god," Amiga gasped as she keeled over. "We're gonna die." She muttered.

Lea wipe the sweat off her brow and shook her head. "Nobody has been hurt yet though." She said, sitting down and then falling over in the grass. She sighed and closed her eyes. They had been pulled for the substitutes to play for a short while.

"You're doing pretty good. Kedo is Ryo's right wing. You managed to stop him at every pass."

Lea smiled a little bit as she felt the warm sun beat down on them. The warm weather was nice, a decent change from a cool New York. She rolled onto her side and breathed in the fresh cut grass.

"So much nicer than concrete." She whispered.

"Hey."

"Oh, hi Ryo." Amiga said as Lea opened her eyes and looked up at him. Ryo was standing over her, looking down with a cool expression. As if he was expecting her to come at him with a snide remark.

"So you're the new student?" He asked.

Lea sat up and dusted grass off her clothes and nodded. "Yeah. I'm Lea."

"Nice to meet you." Ryo bowed his head.

Amiga's eyes widen in surprise. "Wow. So formal. You planning on asking her out?"

Lea jerked up as Ryo balked. Amiga smirked in amusement and wondered away join the gossip mongers. The two were left at the side lines, watching the game. It was a long and quiet moment before Ryo cleared his throat and looked down again. "I'm Ryo Sanada by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Lea said, hugging her knees loosely to her chest. "So you are in homeroom B?"

Ryo nodded as he kneeled down and took a seat next to her. "Yep. Been there for a while now." He leaned back and scratched at his head. He pulled the rubber ban from his hair and let it fall down to his shoulders. "So what brings you here?"

"Change in life style." Lea murmured. "I wanted to get away from New York."

"It won't be too long before some of the students start asking you to help with their English homework." Ryo said, flicking some grass off his shorts. "You speak very nice Japanese."

Lea smiled a little, but not at him. "Thank you."

Ryo cast a fleeting glance to the baseball game. Sage was standing out in the field, his hair drawn back with a ball cap, watching them. He turned away when the coach called the team in for the next inning.

"SANADA!" The coach yelled. "I've been yelling at you and Yotomia for the last two minutes! GET IN THE FIELD!"

Ryo got up; realizing Lea had already gotten up and taken off in the direction of the center position. He spirited to catch up with her. "So, Yotomia. Where did that name come from?" He asked.

Lea slowed down as they neared the coach and ball. "Old family name. Originated in Japan. It's suppose to be my real last name, but my grandmother remarried and we took on the American Jackson name before I was born."

Ryo took his place in front of the ball, staring down the raven haired young woman as she lowered down into a stance. When the whistle blew Lea darted forward, taking him head on. The ball was gone as his foot came down for a punishing kick.

He whipped around as she went charging through the field, between the guys' defense and kicked the ball into the net. There was a moment of silence as the girls' offense began to jog back to their side.

Kedo hit Ryo over the head as he walked by. "I know she's cute and all, but you're not suppose to let that happen damn it!" He barked.

The Ronin leader shook it off as he moved back into place and Lea took her stance again. Ryo smirked a little. "That was pretty good."

"It took me a while to figure out your pattern." Lea said just before the whistle blew.

Ryo stepped forward and kicked back, taking the ball away before Lea could make off with it. She darted pass him like a cat after a mouse.

"GET THE BALL RYO!" Kedo screamed from behind him

Ryo sprinted up, getting along side Lea as the ball rolled across the field back towards the defense line. Kimishema and Himisho were moving in to cut them off. As they neared, the two grazed shoulders.

Lea lunged back, spinning around and tripping the Ronin Warrior to the ground. As Ryo went down, he grabbed her arm to stop his fall…but with the speed they had been moving at the two went to the ground, rolling and stumbling to a stop in the middle of the guys' field.

The whistle blew from the coach.

As the teams started to collect around them, Ryo sat up, spitting finely cut grass from his mouth and shaking it from his hair. His left knee was black with fresh sod and grass from when he had struck the ground and went down. He winced and cast a fleeting glance at Lea who was just getting up, elbows and knees also as black as his.

"Uh…you alright?" He staggered up and offered his hand to her.

Lea's head whipped around in a deathly glare.

"Don't touch me." She panted, getting up on her own.

Ryo balked as she got up and dusted herself off. The coach pushed his way into the group and surveyed the damage. "At least you didn't break something." He sighed in relief. "Sanada, Yotomia…go hit the showers." He ordered. "You're done for today."

Lea turned and walked out of the circle for the exit, followed quickly by Ryo. In the distance, Sage was sitting in the dugout, having seen the two go down and get back up.

He could already read it in the way Lea walked that something bad had happened.

_Ryo…what did you do?_

_Nothing! We collided on the field and went for a tumble. _The reply came back.

_You touched her?_

_Yeah. That happens when you collide with someone Sage._ Ryo thought snidely. _I think she might have picked up my armor's power…because I felt my power jump when I hit her. _

Sage kept watching as Ryo jogged up to Lea just as they disappeared into the hall towards the locker rooms.

Ryo reached out and grabbed her arm.

Lea whipped around, catching his wrist as her touched her and twisted his hand away. In the same instance Ryo lashed out, pulling her around and into a quick chokehold. Lea ducked and kicked him in the shin, just under his bruised knee. Ryo staggered back and caught her fist as it flew into his face.

They stood there, glaring at each other.

_There are more of you!_ Lea's thought hit him.

_Surprised? We travel in packs._ Ryo replied.

_I knew there couldn't be one of you._ She growled at him. "Let go."

"Make me." Ryo said through gritted teeth.

Lea's eyes harden as she glared at him. In an instant Ryo felt the onslaught of a massive headache hit him. He winced.

"I said let go!" Lea snapped.

Ryo held his grip in place, regardless of the pain. "Not until you tell me who you are."

"What more do you need to know warlord?" Lea hissed.

The Ronin leader was taken aback. _What the hell—_

"Ryo!" Sage called.

In his moment of shock, Lea managed to twist her hand free and take off. She darted into the girls' locker room.

Sage rushed in, stunned. "Were you just fighting?" He demanded.

Ryo came out of his daze. "She called me a warlord." He informed.

Halo's eyes narrowed in his own curious surprise as the term hit him. "A warlord?" He whispered.

"Sage, she thinks we're warlords…" Wildfire hissed.

The warrior of light grabbed his leader's arm and dragged him into the men's locker room and locked the door. The two stood there in silence before continuing.

"Warlords? Like Cale and the others?" He said.

Ryo nodded. "Clearly. She must know something about the Dynasty too if she could label us by a warlord title like that. She must not be aware of our armor's intentions and virtues."

Sage stared at him hard for a second. "Ryo…your power levels have spiked."

The Ronin leader looked away for a second, searching within himself before looking back. "I feel like I'm sitting in Fuji." He said. "I haven't felt this great in a while."

"She thinks we're warlords and you had an energy transfer." Sage whispered.

Ryo rubbed his forehead. "Yeah…and she knows how to make your head hurt."

Sage started to say something when there was a knock at the door. Someone else had been let go from the field and was outside waiting to be let in. He unlocked the door and got out of the way as Ryo wondered down the line of benches and lockers to the showers.

Sage felt something spur in the back of his mind. He whipped his head around to the girls' locker room, feeling the urge to call his armor. In an instant, that moment was gone.

He stood there, sighing in annoyance and turning back into the room.

Lea peaked out around the edge of the door's alcove, looking down at the boys' locker room. She pulled back and relaxed the fist against her chest, revealing a small red orb in her hand glowing with the virtue for righteousness.

* * *

Ryo opened his eyes to the warm gust of wind that blew through his hair. He found himself standing in the middle of a forest clearing. He blinked in confusion, wondering why he was there when he looked down at his hands and found himself covered in Wildfire sub armor.

_Again? It's happening again? _Ryo thought as he examined his hands. He felt the urge to pinch himself when a twig snapped next to him.

The figure beyond the brush took off running when he spotted them.

"Wait!" He called, running after them. He thought for a moment he could over take the onlooker with his normal speed. As they darted through the brush and trees, the stranger was pulling away from him.

Ryo unleashed his armor's power and took off, cutting through the hedges and taking a round about way to get ahead of his chase. He lunged forward, going down into a ditch as he ran, making it look like he was no longer following.

He got back up and cut into the runner's path.

He was met head on with a swinging fist.

Ryo snatched it out of the air, twisting and rolling the attacker to the ground. A foot came up in time as the blur of red and white balanced on one hand and spun, hitting him in the head.

How the hell had anything move so fast with such action?

Ryo went down, wincing as the attacker flipped up again and looked down at him for a moment.

For a second in time, Ryo thought he was looking at himself...or his sister if ever had one.

Lea glared down at him, at if daring him to pull the same stunt again.

She took off, pouncing into the trees and was gone.

Ryo sat up, getting dizzily to his feet and tried to follow after her. He could just see her through the dancing limbs of branches in his path. Beyond the canopy of trees, the sunlight was blinding…and in a split second, Lea had vanished in front of him…and the trees went with her.

He over pounced and started falling through the air into a ravine.

"Damn it!" Ryo yelped as he fell. He was too high to land safely. He plumped through the air and tried in vain as he neared the tops of the trees to grab a branch. At the last second he latched onto a limb.

But gravity pulled him down with speed, and the Ronin Warrior was snatched away and thrown to the ground with a violent smash. The world went completely back and Ryo felt the air leave his lungs.

His vision began to return as the dust cleared. The blinding sunlight lingered through the leaves of the trees above. He lay there, catching his second wind and staring up at the sky.

Something scuffed the ground.

Ryo winced as he rolled his head and looked. Lea was standing there, completely unharmed. She lifted her head in a defiant way, the same cold expression. Her eyes dared him to get up and keep following her. Beyond her was a black cave just hidden by the bushes.

Ryo winced as he started to get up. Lea balked.

"Uh…Wait! Please!" He begged. "Just hold on! I want to talk to you!"

Lea clenched her fist and stared at him with intent, she was itching to run by her posture into the cave.

"I'm not…a warlord…please…" Ryo said as he staggered up. Lea flinched away from him as he got up to his feet, trying to get his left arm to move again. He faultered over to her, which only served to make her back off deeper into the cave.

_"I would be careful. You dance dangerously close to an open flame."_

Ryo whipped around, looking behind him to see a man with silver hair and dressed in blue and white robes. His face was hidden behind a woven hat that circled his head. He picked up his staff and gave it a cautious tap on the ground, making it sing it's sweet song of protection.

Lea found herself compelled to move away from the cave, just as an arm reached out tried to grab her. She backed off, coming towards Ryo without realizing it. She looked back at the monk standing in front of them.

"Ancient?" Ryo whispered in surprise. He looked at Lea, at her sub armor. It was identical to his. "What…is the meaning of this?"

The Ancient was silent for a moment. _"It was only a matter of time before you would cross paths. Though it has been several generations since a Guardian and a Warrior met, it was destine to happen again before too long." _The wind picked up and made the trees hum with their natural music of russelling leaves and creeking branches.

_"She is wary of you." _The Ancient said, making Ryo look back to still see Lea keeping her distance and that ferocious stare. _"I've never seen one so cautious of others. There is a great deal of trouble behind those eyes. I believe there has been a conflict to result in her mistrust of the Ronin Warriors." _

"Is she really here?" Ryo demanded. "Am I just dreaming her here or is she really here?"

_"Why don't you ask her yourself?" _The Ancient mused.

Lea just glared at Ryo. He found it hard to believe either idea.

_"I can't stay for much longer, but you have to try talking to each other. We can not have conflict between the Guardians and the Warriors. It's imperative that you understand the situation that has fallen before us." _The monk went on to explain. _"The trails that lie ahead are going to destroy the Ronin Warriors if you do not make an alley of the Guardians."_

Ryo straightened up, confused. "Who are the Guardians?" He asked.

_"I'm sorry that those questions are for you to answer, Ryo of Wildfire. But you must make them your alley." _The Ancient walked over to him and looked the Ronin leader boldly in the eyes. _"The mistrust must be bridged. This will make your advances difficult if you do not reason with the only remaining Guardian. You both need each other to confront this trail. Become allies and we shall see a benefit from your actions." _

The Ancient turned and started to walk into the forest. _"There is only so much the armors will allow you to communicate. If indeed you must take this action, lay down your arms and confront each other as people and not warriors. The Guardian holds the key to your salvation…and you possess the means of saving them from annilalation…and together, each other from a greater threat."_

Ryo stood there, watching at the Ancient vanished into the shadows of the forest.

He sighed a little in frustration. He hated it when people talked in riddles. The Ronin leader wished Rowen or Sage was there to help him make sense of all this.

"Why should I alley myself to you." Lea's voice suddenly demanded.

Ryo whipped around to see her glaring at him with her hands on her hips. She didn't look all that impressed.

She really was there in his dream.

He moved in her direction, resulting in her continuing to back off. "Don't you dare come near me!" She barked.

"Listen…I'm not a warlord." Ryo said sternly. "I'm Ryo Sanada, I'm a Ronin Warrior." He opened a hand to her. "Are you the Guardian the Ancient was talking about?"

Lea looked at his head and then back at him. For some reason the woman's expression had softened into surprise. She stepped back and started to turn to walk away.

"You're going to have to do a lot more than just tell me you're not a warlord." She said in a cold tone and started walking away into the forest. Ryo sighed in frustration as he watched her suddenly disappear like the Ancient had.

With a growl Ryo dropped his hand and looked around. He wasn't awaking up yet. He examined the clearing that he stood in, taking in the sights and the sounds before realizing that this was very much like Mount. Fuji. If he hadn't been in a panic while falling, Ryo determined that he might have seen the volcano. Or maybe he was falling down from it.

Ryo looked over to the cave, still dark and wary. He was curious to know why Lea was drawn in that direction the first time…why the Ancient had been determined to pull her away from there…and why he suddenly felt like going into the cave himself.

Ryo walked over and looked inside. It didn't look to be much more than a shallow hollow in the rock wall. He took another few steps in to just about where Lea had been standing before getting away.

"Hello?" Ryo called.

A hand reached out and grabbed him by the throat, dragging the Ronin leader down into the darkness of the cave. He yelped and lashed back out with his feet while his hands kept him from choking. His eyes adjusted towards the light as the ground gave out from under him and he was lifted up to face his attacker.

"I shall have the armors!" Talpa roared, his eyes glow a violent red.

Ryo felt all feeling leave his body as his neck was snapped…and then air stop.

Then everything went black again.

* * *

"Aaah!" Ryo shoot up, startling Whiteblaze.

There were sounds of the others stirring as well. Before Ryo could take a calming breath, Sage and Rowen came stumbling from their room through the bathroom door.

"You felt it too?" Sage demanded.

Ryo nodded as Cye and Kento came barreling into the room a moment later, ragged and panicked.

"I saw Talpa!" Cye whispered in horror. "I swear to god I saw him!"

"Saw him?" Ryo said. "He choked me to death."

Rowen's head whipped around to the point Ryo thought it might snap off. "I'm gonna assume we all saw Talpa and it was within out natural power sources…but the Ancient as well?"

"Yeah. I saw him." Kento mumbled, flopping over the extra bed in Ryo's room. "He said something about making alley's of a 'Guardian'."

Ryo blurted out, "Lea."

A curious look scattered across their faces as they looked over at their leader.

"Lea was there." He said. "She was in my dream. She was really there!" He ran a hand through his hair, unsure of what more to say. "It was her. I didn't just dream her being there."

"Lea is the Guardian?" Cye asked.

Ryo shook his head in confusion. "I don't know. I tried talking to her." He sighed a little and rubbed the side of his chin that she had kicked in the dream. "I swear to god it was really her because she demanded to know 'Why should I alley myself to you?'."

Sage blinked in surprise. "Did you tell her we're not warlords?"

Wildfire nodded. "She said it was going to take a lot more the just telling her to prove that we're not warlords."

"The Ancient must have meant her because she is the one with a serious issue of mistrust." Rowen muttered.

Ryo sighed as he tried to make sense of all this. He wasn't having much luck.

"Somebody write down what the Ancient said to them…it sees he told us the same thing."

* * *

AN: Here is Chapter Two. There is a lot that has changed with the story line. The original was so bland compared to this and the Ancient makes a much better appearance. I personally like the scene were Ryo lunges out of the trees and goes into the fall. That would look sweet as a manga or an anime. I'm thinking that once I get the story done and some other ones, I'll draw up chapter covers and mini doujinshi and make the fanfiction into a PDF on CD so people can read this with all it's art work and completely illustrated. If I do that, I might get a table over in a conventions' artist alley. I don't know. Lol. Would be nice. Check out DeviantART for concept art (link is on profile page)

Thanks for reading a reviewing.

-Stargazer86


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

"Oi!" Amiga came dashing into the room. "Lea, you busy?" She demanded.

Sage looked up from sitting by the window with his lunch. He had decided to stay in his own room with several friends to review noted for a test after the small recess. Lea had been sitting at her desk the whole time, having neglected her own lunch to look over her notes.

"Uh…no…" She said, startled as Amiga reached out and dragged her from the seat.

"Come on! Bring your lunch!" She smiled gleefully. Lea reached back, snatching up the bag as she was rushed out of the room.

Kemishema looked back to his study buddies and sighed. "Something must be up if Amiga is dragging students out of class again."

"That is the first sign of her and some other people scheming again." Yuo muttered. "I mean, new student, prime suspect for a match making contest."

Sage sat there, his sandwich dangling from his mouth as he watched this conversation go back and forth between the group. He was well aware of the scheming that went around this place when Amiga was involved. There was no doubt in his mind that she and her friends were setting the young woman up with someone.

He looked down at his notes and sighed. Though they sat next to each other all day in class, there was no way in hell she was going to talk to him. All he got when he tried to start a conversation was a severe glare—

"Sage, what did you do to piss her off?"

Sage looked up. "What?"

"Aw come on man, I keep seeing her burn daggers through your head when you try to talk to her." Kemishema pointed out. "I don't see in the back of the room and not notice this."

"Yeah man, what happen?"

Sage shook his head. "I don't know. She hasn't talked civil to me since I shook her hand on the first day of class."

"Wow." Yuo whistled. "That is weird."

_Not as weird as you think._ Sage thought as he crammed the rest of his sandwich in his mouth. "Could you pass me my tea?" He asked.

* * *

"So, I'll see you around?"

Lea tried to smile, without looking slightly exasperated. "Um…yeah! Sure thing Kedo." She waved at him as pathetically as she could as he gave her a foolish grin and left his class room.

Lea's shoulders slumped as she heard some giggles from outside the door. Her head snapped around and glared at the onlookers. "Amiga! What the hell—" Her yell was met with the scuffling of feet making a mad dash away from the door.

She let out an aggravated sigh and gritted her teeth together in annoyance. The young woman looked down at her lunch and scratched her head.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell is it with these people…" Lea muttered as she went to pick up her meal. Just as she touched the box, her eyes widen in surprise.

"You plan on helping Kedo with his English?"

Lea whipped around to see Ryo standing in the back of the room with the closet door opened a crack behind him. He crossed his arms and watched her carefully.

"What the hell are you—"

"I had Amiga and Kedo set this up. They didn't know I was using them to catch you off your guard." Ryo stated. He started walking forward, and much to his surprise, Lea remained rooted in the ground. She looked ready to bore holes through his chest.

"Look, if I was a warlord, you know damnwell that I would not hold back attacking you in this building." Ryo said. "I don't want to fight you all. I just want to talk."

Lea repositioned her footing and huffed in aggravation. "Gonna look strange when people start coming into this room and we're yelling at each other about armors."

Ryo sighed in frustration a little, getting severely annoyed. There was only so far his patience was going to go before he wanted to knock some sense into her. He looked up at the clock and growled. He didn't have the time to do this before Cye or Rowen came in looking for him.

"Listen. I will meet you alone." Ryo said. "I will leave Sage and the others out if this makes you uncomfortable." He said, walking up to her.

Lea's eyes flickered with surprise. There were others?

Ryo kept walking, going past her only enough to stop for a second.

"There is a lake at the base of Fuji. Meet me there this weekend. Bring what ever you want. I am bringing my armor and nothing else." He murmured to her.

Lea blinked several times as she heard the invitation. When she turned to look back, Ryo was already out the door and gone. Voices outside sounded like a few of his friends had just arrived.

He had just kept her from being spotted by his own comrades.

Lea stood there, silenced.

* * *

Cye leaned into the office and smiled a little. "Oi, Mia."

Mia looked up from her computer and smiled. "Cye! You made it over here!"

Cye nodded as he came in and set a few book by her desk. "I had some time to stop by the library and check these out for you." He said. "I would have been here sooner though."

Mia picked up one thick book and looked at it's cover carefully. "Hum. _Mythos of the Bushido Era._ Ah, this was certainly written by one of the men my Grandfather conferenced with." She opened it up and started skimming the chapter titles. "So, did the others make it home safe?" She asked.

Cye nodded as he leaned on the counter and also started looking through a book. "Yes. Rowen came with me though. He is over in the library now, doing more research with the references."

Mia opened the book to a page and started looking it over. "This is a recap of my grandfather's material. There doesn't seem to be a great deal here."

"Was he known for keeping his research to himself?" Torrent asked as he kept looking through the book. He was glancing over the index.

"Some parts of it…such as the white armor's information and the Heart of Ancients. He was determined though that if he told enough historians, they would help him find the current Ronin Warriors."

"Is that so." Cye murmured as he opened to a different page. "Hey, I think I might have something…"

Mia took the book from him and began to read it. "Hum…it's very vague though.

Cye mumbled a little bit as he looked at the computer in front of her. It was covered with post-its and key words she had been using as she was deciphering the data left over from her grandfather's research. He didn't understand why the man told people so much, but kept files like this cryptic.

The door opened again and Rowen came in, running. "I found something!"

Mia looked up from the book and took the photocopies from Rowen's hands. At the same time, Strata rammed a disk into her waiting paws. "This should help you break down the codes faster. I just finished putting the final touches on it this afternoon before I left the school."

Mia looked at the disk and gave it back to him. She stood up and moved out of her chair for Rowen to sit down and begin installing the package. "Thank you Rowen. I didn't realize you were doing this."

"It came to me a few days ago while tryin' to fight with this old program. This should update the files and allow us faster processin' time. There is also a Key Cyper built in that will allow you to generate key words needed to unlock more information." He informed as he worked furiously at the keyboard. "Look at those notes though!"

Mia and Cye started to look over the photocopies. Bright highlighter covered the most releviant information.

" 'It is believed that six hundred years ago, a monk forged nine armors and bestowed upon them the powers of human virtues. But there is also reason to believe that in the Old Capital, Kyoto, contains rumbles of another set of armors. These armors, regarded as the _Protectors of Warriors_…or Guardians as they have been dubbed were made by a neighboring clan of monk who were indebted to the previous creators of the so called Ronin Warrior armors'." Mia stopped reading and looked up in surprise. "Rowen! Where did you find this?"

Rowen turned in the chair as the computer ate away at his program. "Your grandfather and a professor in Osaka wrote that article together."

Mia blinked in shock. "A professor in Osaka?" She demanded.

"Yeah." Rowen sighed. "But the man…recently passed away." He said quietly.

Cye straightened. "You're sure?" He asked.

"I call the University myself." Rowen said. "Accordin' to the recent news, the man passed away by natural causes. He was just slightly older than Mia's grandfather."

"You don't believe it." Cye stated, crossing his arms.

Strata nodded. "There was talk that the man was possibly murdered."

Mia looked down at the papers and then back to her computer, just as Rowen turned to it again and hit the key generator feature. He typed in some details and commanded it to begin processing.

"This might take awhile." He whispered, his eyes widening.

"I thought you said it would go faster." Cye said.

"I didn't realize there was so much data." He pointed to the new status report of the file Mia was working at. "There is a lot of damage because of the age of the files and the machines were workin' on." He informed. "But while this is chewing at that, let's see about gettin' some more information from that professor."

* * *

Kento came wondering down stairs to see Sage sitting at the dinning room table. He yawned and scratched his tummy as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice and began to drink it right from the container.

Sage looked up from his newspaper. "Do you have any domesticated values?"

Hardrock shook his head. "I'll at least finish it off so no one has to drink after me." He said sleepily. He stared at the front page of the paper as Sage went on reading.

He turned at the sound of scratching at the door. Behind him was Whiteblaze itching to be let out the sliding porch door. He rubbed his chin a little before getting up and walking to the door with the orange juice in his big hand.

"Where's Ryo?" Kento asked.

Sage shrugged. "He was gone this morning." He said. "I think he went for a stroll in the woods."

Kento nodded. "Strange he would leave Whiteblaze behind like that." He mumbled opened the door and let the tiger out. The animal took off running across the lawn and gone into the forest.

Halo flipped the paper back. "You know what, that is kind a strange." He said.

"Yeah." Kento blinked himself a wake.

Sage watched him carefully as they drew the same conclusion.

* * *

Ryo wondered carefully through the forest, making his way towards the lake that he had mentioned the day before. His sub armor was concealed for the time being under some loose clothing and a leather coat from storage. He had spent most of the morning walking and running the distance from the Koji Manor outside of Shinjuku to the volcano's base.

The Ronin leader bushed aside the brushed and stepped out into the open banks of the lake. He was surprised there were no campers out enjoying themselves and at the same time reveled in the privacy.

He stood there in the warm sun and cool breeze by the lake, watching the water sparkle in the middle of the afternoon.

He was rethinking what the ancient had shared with him and the others the previous night. He didn't understand how anything could be causing trouble now with Talpa dead and gone. The Warlords and Lady Kayura had returned to the City of Desires in the Dynasty to rebuild. There was no way there could be anyone out to attack them.

Unless it was Lea…

A twig snapped behind him.

Ryo whipped around to see Lea standing in the middle of the brush line, dressed in a jean jacket and boat neck shirt. And instead of the usual skirt, she was wearing jeans and sneakers.

"I didn't think you'd come."

Lea stared at him, crossing her arms. "I almost didn't."

"What made you?" Ryo asked. "If you don't trust Sage and I, what made you come out here to meet me alone."

Lea remained silent.

Ryo sighed a little in dismay, rubbing the back of his neck with cool armored fingers. "I'm sorry we seem to have gotten off to a bad start." He said. "Listen, we're not warlords. We're the Ronin Warriors." He explained. "There are five of us who live here. We protect the mortal Realm from the Dynasty and their invasions."

Lea blinked at him, emotionless. "I said it was going to take a lot more than words to convince me that you're not a warlord."

Ryo reached up to his coat and pulled it back, revealing his sub armor underneath. "I'm the Ronin Warrior of Righteousness." He said. "What more than that can explain my not being a warlord?"

Lea flinched a little as Ryo declared his virtue. "What? You have got to be kidding! I'm the Ronin Guardian of Righteousness!"

Ryo stopped, his eyes widening. "You're the Guardian the Ancient has been talking about?"

Lea reached back, coming out of a moment of shock and grabbed the hands of the person behind her. She went under the weight as she pulled him over and flung Cale of Darkness in front of her at Ryo.

Lea looked back, up seething as she brandished for the first time red and white sub armor, identical to Ryo's.

"You lair!" Lea yelled. "And to think for a second I was going to trust you!" She barked.

Ryo rushed over to Cale, helping the warlord as he got back up. If Lea had meant all along that her enemy was a warlord like him, then this was not helping appearances.

Cale got up and growled. "You couldn't have kept her distracted a little bit longer?" He demanded, shoving Ryo away from him.

Wildfire looked at him, confused. "I don't understand! She thinks I'm a warlord! The only way that could be happening is if you've done something to her before! You tell me what is going on right now, Cale!"

Lea growled a little. "I don't know what game your trying to play, but I'm not falling for it!" She snapped.

Cale mused for a second before turning to Ryo and motioning him over. "Listen, I'll tell you what is going on." He said. Ryo walked over, slightly aggravated as he approached the Warlord of Darkness. The wind picked up and blew Cale's cape into his line of sight, giving the warlord all the time he needed to reach up and grab Wildfire by the throat.

"These are no games." Cale said as he tightened his choking grip on the Ronin Leader's throat. He looked over to Lea with not a hint of expression in his face as he dragged the young man up and off the ground.

Ryo gasped for air as he fought to release the fingers around his neck. Lea was standing just with in his line of sight, startled as he let out a choking gasp. There was no way he could be playing this came at risk to his own life. She had to realize this!

And what on earth was Cale doing?

"Augh...C...Cale!" Ryo wheezed. "Wh…what…are you…doing?"

Cale looked at Wildfire out of the corner of his eyes. He still hadn't shown any expression yet.

"You will pay for killing our master." He said, both as himself…and as a man possessed…

Ryo's eyes widen in horror as the Warlord of Darkness tighten his grip around his throat.

* * *

AN: Chapter three, at long last. This chapter is in fact a combination of Three, Four, and the beginning of Five from the original write up. The addition of Cye, Mia, and Rowen doing all that excess research was never part of the story to begin with. In fact, Mia did little to no research at all accept for a small part towards the end of chapter…8? I'm not sure…but it was really pathetic. This allows for a much faster story arc around the Guardians' origins, so I plan on getting that taken care of now…and adding more battle scenes to the story. This new version now really looks like a proper Ronin Warrior fan fiction. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Keep an eye out over in my Deviant Account. I'll be getting a new image up soon of both Lea, armor, and school uniform.

-Stargazer86


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors.**

**Chapter Four**

"I feel bad leaving Sage and the others behind." Cye muttered as they walked through the office of the dead professor.

"They'll be alright." Mia assured. "Besides, Ryo said he had other things to do today. Sage just didn't feel like coming down with…with this whole Guardian business."

Rowen stopped for a second, pulling a book from shelf. "He was not planning on confrontin' Lea was he?"

Cye shrugged. "I don't know."

Mia sat down to a desk and began turning pages on some rather dusty note books. "This man was a colleague of my grandfather alright." She said as she read the side notes in the margin. "This is my grandfather's hand writing."

Torrent walked up with another book and hand and looked down. "So what does it say?"

"Mostly things about the Ronin Warriors." The red head answered as she looked to the main text of notes. Apparently this had been a published book that Grandfather Koji had bought, written in, and mailed back to its author. Her grandfather had bee notorious for doing that with his fellow researchers. "It appears to be another general thesis on the existence of the Ronin Warriors' armors."

Rowen walked over and leaned in. "Nothing on Guardians?"

"Just the same material we found before." She sighed and put down the book.

Cye wonder pass a case filled with armors and found a barrel of posters. He reached out and pulled out the first roll he touched and opened it. He stopped short. "Ah! Mia! Look at this!"

Mia and Rowen turned from the desk and watched as Cye rolled the poster down on a center table to reveal a map of ancient Japan.

"This marks the battles the Ancient's clan fought with the Neither Realm!" Rowen whispered. "Look, Right here in Edo. That is were the first Neither Gate opened up six hundred years ago."

Mia nodded in agreement as she looked down in awe. "But look here, it wasn't the only place." She pointed to the Old Capital of Kyoto. "There was one here. According to the dates, it was within the same year and they seemed to overlap with time."

"Talpa was fighting a two front war." Cye pointed out. "One in Edo and the other in Kyoto."

Rowen frowned a little as he reached over and pulled out other maps. He started looking them over as they were laid out over the table. "It looks like our Ancient who was fightin' Talpa in Edo took a small detour with some troops to Kyoto." He glanced over the maps. "Several times in fact…until Talpa was defeated in Edo."

Cye stood back and rubbed at his chin as he thought. "Do you think the Warlords would have any records lying around about this? Maybe we can compare notes."

Mia looked up in surprise. "I never thought about asking them for information!" She whispered in awe. "With their knowledge of the armors and the amount of research that must have been done on your armors so Talpa could find them again…my god…" She gasped in realization.

Rowen smiled a little as he started rolling up maps. "Well…I guess we better find some way to get in contact with our friends in the City of Desires then."

"There might be something there too on the Guardian armors…and no doubt a wealth of back history for us to review about Talpa's previous wars with the Mortal Realm." Cye grinned as he watched Mia go to work on snatching books of the selves and piling them into boxes.

"You have no idea how much information we have."

Torrent turned in the direction of the voice, glancing towards the cases behind him. Rowen froze in the middle of rolling maps as a pair of glowing red eyes appeared behind the case within its shadows.

"Sekhm—"

The warlord shot through the glass panes and grabbed Cye by the neck, pinning him back to the center table. Rowen instantly reacted, grabbing Mia away from the other cases as the armors within them became animated and started to draw weapons.

"CYE!"

Cye winced as he struggled to grab his armor crystal. Sekhmet's grip tightened around his throat as he held Torrent down on the table. Cye managed to get his hand into his coat and around his armor crystal and powered up.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rowen don his sub armor. The Ronin Warrior of Strata reached onto the wall and grabbed the nearest weapon at his disposal. A text book came flying out of the air, colliding with the Warlord's head as he continued to strangle Cye.

"Run Cye!" Mia cried out as she was shoved back behind a sword bearing Strata. "RUN!"

Cye wrenched himself free in the Warlord's state of confusion. He made it clear to the door, snatching a staff from the broken cases and standing ready as the animated armors and the warlord stood around them.

"SEKHMET! What the hell is going on?" Torrent demanded.

Sekhmet hissed as him as he drew a sword from his back and started to approach the warrior of Trust. Rowen hacked his way through the armors that were trying to attack him and Mia, who where now completely cornered in the room with no away out.

"The Ronin Warriors shall pay for what they have done to Master Talpa."

Rowen started yelling orders, telling Cye to get armor as he began to make his way to the blinded windows. With a violent swing the warlord of Venom whipped around and threw his sword at the two mortals behind him. The blade narrowly missed Mia by a hair as Rowen snatched her clear.

Cye took his chance and flung himself at the warlord in this moment of chaos. He was instantly thrown clear and into the shattered cases.

"CYE! ARMOR! NOW!" Rowen roared as he broke the sword in his hands and started punching and kicking his way through the confined space. Torrent got up, dazed as he moved through the broken glass, finding shards that had cut his cheek and jaw. Lines of pure scarlet brimmed the cuts and began to roll down his face to his neck.

"ARMOR OF TORRENT!"

Mia got back as Rowen continued to pound his away through the enemies. She gasped as she saw the glowing eyed warlord draw more swords into his hands and began to throw them at Strata.

"ROWEN!" She cried out, lunging forward with no regard for her own safety. Strata grabbed her by the arm and threw the red head to the floor as the swords came flying, striking the Ronin Warrior of Wisdom. He let out a yell as a blade slashed through his sub armor and ripped through his shoulder.

He hit the floor next to Mia, wincing as he arm went completely numb. He was looking worse for wear when he heard the tall tell sounds of a fully armored Ronin Warrior clashing with a Warlord on the other side of the center table. Around them the armors were drawing back weapons for a killing blow.

"Mia…" Strata winced as he lay useless on the floor at her knees. Mia looked up in horror, dropping the book in her hands next to the downed Ronin. She shielded his body with hers as windows started to smash and white light filled the room. In a blur Cye came around the table taking out anything still standing in the room with his yari.

With a snap the last armor's helmet fill from its head with a whirl of smoke and collapsed next to the two of them. Cye stood in its place, catching his breath.

"He took off." He panted, taking his helmet off for a second and wiping the blood off the side of his face. It only ended up smearing crimson across his pale skin and back onto his hair.

Rowen winced as he dragged himself off the floor, his arm hanging uselessly by his side as he got to his knees. He pulled his bloody hand away and grabbed Mia's arm. "Don't you dare get the line of fire again!" He nearly yelled. As much as he wanted to, Rowen wasn't one to get snappy.

He winced again and let go. "We couldn't live with ourselves if another mortal died in our care…like your grandfather." He said calmly.

Mia nodded slowly in understanding and shock. She showed no care in the world for the blood that was now stained into her blouse and the scratches in her skin. She got back up and helped the injured Strata to his feet.

"I'll be alright…" Rowen shooed her away. "Cye…go make sure that sunovabitch is gone. Mia…Get as much of that stuff as you can…We're taking all we can carry."

The red head slipped away and began throwing books into the waiting box and the nearby tote bag she carried. Rowen collapsed into the chair by the computer, which had a spear through the monitor, gasping in pain.

"Rowen, it's the venom." Cye came over. "You need to see Sage as soon as possible!"

Strata shoved him off. "Go stand watch!" He ordered, reaching over to the phone by the computer and started pressing numbers. Cye gave in and took off through the whole he had made in the windows.

The lined picked up on the other end.

"_Hello?_"

Rowen hissed a little as tried to stay still. "Sage…where is Ryo?"

"_Out. He left the morning and hasn't been back._" Halo replied on the other end. "_He didn't take Whiteblaze with him._"

Strata thought for a second he had stop breathing as he heard this news. "Where did he go?" He turned as Mia knocked over a shelf of books in her mad dash to collect information.

"_No idea! But it looks like he wanted to go alone. Why the twenty questions? And you sound like shit—_"

Rowen winced as he felt white hot pain his arm. "We've been attack…Sekhmet showed up out of the blue and tried to kill us."

He was met with silence on the other end. There was the tall tell clicking of the other line being picked up and Kento listening in. "I need you guys to meet us on the way back…" Rowen wheezed as little as he could fell his eyes sting with sweat. "We…gotta find Ryo…and…I…need a…doctor…"

The phone came free of his hand as Rowen fell forward and collapsed on the floor. Beside him the phone lay next to his shoulder with Sage and Kento's voices demanding his attention.

"ROWEN!" Mia dropped the books in her hands and flew to his side in panic.

* * *

"WAIT UP!" Kento yelled as he dropped the receiver at the same time he heard the door slam. Sage was already marching to his truck with the keys in his hands and his armor orb pocketed in his coat.

Hardrock snatched up the first pair of shoes he found and ran barefooted across the drive way and into the passenger side of the vehicle as roared to life. Sage rammed his seat belt on as he stomped on the gas an threw the truck in reverse.

"God damn it Sage!" Kento yelped as he was thrown against the dash board.

"I should send you to go find Ryo." Sage said as he hit the gas again and the warrior of Justice was thrown back in his seat. With haste, Kento threw on his seat beat and began to put his shoes on.

"Splitting up right now doesn't seem like a good idea." Kento muttered as they tore down the driveway to the main road. The truck took a vicious turn onto the pavement and in the direction of the main highway to Osaka.

Halo, with prefect precision swung the stick drive into position into the highest and most moveable speed he could go.

"He went to Fiji." He said next.

Kento looked over as he clutched the frame of the truck just over his head. "You sure?"

"Positive now." Sage murmured as he sped down the street. "I suspected he was going there this weekend."

"Okay. Why?"

"Lea told some friends at school she was off to do some 'sight seeing'." He informed coolly.

Kento's eyes widening surprise as logic began to process.

"And we need to put enough distance between us and the Manor…now."

From the tone in his voice, Hardrock looked back into the mirror at his side, catching the slightest glimmer of a man lunging from the trees dressed in dark purple armor and an array of scythes on his back. From the forest around him came hordes of soldiers.

Kento whipped back around as the site behind them vanished together with their distance. "Dear god!" He whispered in horror.

* * *

Lea lurched back as she watched Cale startle to strangle the Ronin Warrior. Her mind went racing in all directions as she tried to think of the best course of action. She recalled all those chances Sage and Ryo had had to attack her in the school…and god knows who else they had allies with. But he had treated Cale like a friend before the warlord ringed his neck.

Ryo let out another choking gasp.

_He…he is a Ronin Warrior…_

Lea eyes' widening in realization.

_'I pledge my sword…to the service of the Ronin Warrior…'_

Cale was starting to feel Ryo's fingers go lax around his grip when a blur of motion out of his eye came flying into his chest. An arm hit his elbow to the arm that was strangling the life out of the leader of the Ronin Warriors. He released the young man as the body that collided with him nearly broke his arm.

With a fury of swings, the Warlord caught Lea by the arm and sent her flying to the ground with all the force he could muster. The Guardian hit he earth and rebounded back, rolling through the sand away from him to a stop near the water's edge.

Ryo sat up, gasping for air as he rubbed his neck. He watched Lea take the hit and land with a sickening thud in the ground. She rolled to a stop and didn't get back up.

"You choose the wrong time to make up your mind about allegiances!" Cale roared as he started to stomp towards her. "Now I'm going to kill you once and for all, Lea of Wildfire!"

"CALE! STOP!" Ryo yelled. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" He demanded lunging for the warlord as he drew his sword. Lea pushed herself up and darted clear as the blade swung down on her. At the same time Ryo jumped the warlord and send him to the ground with sheer force.

He was merely swatted off like nothing and sent rolling through the sand of the banks.

Lea up and moving, just as Ryo rolled to a stop at her feet. She looked down at him, a mix of horror, surprise, and confusion in her face. "Are you really the Ronin Warrior of Virtue?" She demanded.

Ryo nodded as Cale got back up and started to advance on them.

"Tell me you're the Guardian the Ancient told me about!"

Lea lowered into a stance as Ryo got up and placed his footing for a charge. "I'm not joining the Ronin Warriors!" She barked and skirted clear of the Warlord of Darkness as he charged at them. Ryo sprinted down the bank and out of the range of the sword that came flying in his direction.

The Guardian was getting into the clear just as an arm came around and caught her in the chest. Lea went down at Dais's feet with no protest.

"LEA!" Ryo yelled as he watched her hit the dirt like dead weight.

Dais stood over the Guardian and laughed. "That was too easy." He mused for a moment, looking down. Lea started to move again, wincing as she gasped for air and was instantly kicked in the stomach for her troubles. The raven haired guardian was knocked across the sand and into the middle of the battlefield, beaten.

Ryo was about to rush in as the two warlords made and advance on her, drawing weapons when Sekhmet burst from the water. The warlord grabbed a fist full of hair and sent the Ronin leader face first into the ground.

"Lord Vallen wants that girl dead!" Sekhmet roared, his eyes still glowing.

Ryo winced as he tired to fight his way up. With a vicious tug he was wrenched up and his arms twisted behind his back. Ryo cried out as he felt his arms pulled to their farthest and he was forced down onto his knees with his hands pinned at the edge of his shoulders blades.

Cale and Dais drew weapons, getting ready to attack as Lea looked up from her recovery. The Guardian started to draw back a breath as her eyes darkened and the air seemed to snap with energy. Ryo felt the air thin around them as the cool breeze stop blowing. He tried to look up as the warlords lifted their weapons high when out of the forest came Whiteblaze at full speed towards them.

Lea was rammed clear of the blows and the tiger narrowly missed being hit.

The Guardian got up with the blow, stancing again. The air around them started to return to normal as her eyes reverted back to their normal shade. With a roar Whiteblaze was on Sekhmet, knocking him off his charge with all his strength. Ryo rolled clear and was on his feet.

"ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!" Ryo yelled at the top of his lungs, donning his armor. At that instant, the Guardian had suddenly become the least of the warlord's worries as a fully armored Ronin Warrior stepped out of the power up running at full tilt towards them.

Lea skirted clear as Ryo charged into Cale and brought the man down with all his strength. With a fury of kicks, punches, and swings…the Ronin leader managed to wrestle the man to the ground and ram a katana between his helmet and armor.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Ryo demanded, yelling at him.

Dais was beginning an approach when Lea appeared from his blind side. It gave Ryo all the time he needed to learn the truth.

"Why are you attacking us? We're allies now! You disbanded from Talpa a year ago! YOU SWORE YOUR ALLEGIANCE WITH THE ANCIENT!" Ryo roared.

Cale looked up to him, chuckling as his eyes started to glow a brilliant neon blue…one Ryo had seen before when the warlords had been possessed by Neither Spirits. That one and only time that they had no control over their bodies accept when Talpa possessed the armors. Ryo's eyes widen in surprise as the warlord of Darkness smirked up at him.

"A Radical faction has dethroned that bitch Kayura…" Cale hissed. "Lord Vallen is Shogun of the Dynasty. You are now a dead man like your comrades at arms…"

Ryo's eyes widen in confusion and horror. "Wha—"

Cale's armor exploded with Neither Spirit energy, sending Ryo flying off him. He got back up just as Dais threw Lea off, letting her smash into Ryo's fully armored body. She yelped and fell to the ground as if she had smashed into a wall.

"Lea!" Ryo went down to help her up she grabbed his arm and wrenched him back into a head lock, swords clattering to the ground. Out of Ryo's line of site, the real Lea was standing mortified near the forest edge. The faux Guardian turned into Dais.

Cale got up and flicked his wrist. Lea started running as Sekhmet burst from the trees above her, throwing down his swords now that he had lost the tiger in the brush. The Guardian went forward, flipping through the air along the banks, getting clear of the cloud of venom that peeled off the blades. Ryo watched this deadly dance in horror as Cale sprinted down the beach in her wake.

He vanished and then reappeared in her path.

"NO!" Ryo yelled as the warlord drew back his sword and brought the hit down as hard as he could on the young woman's head. Lea went flying through the air, her body hit the ground in shallow water.

Dais struggled to hold the Ronin leader back as the water lapped gently around the young woman's body…turning red around the side of her head.

Sekhmet landed next to the warlord of Illusion, smirking slightly as Cale stood over the body. Ryo watched in horror as Darkness picked the woman up for a second, her body limp in his hands before letting her fall back into the water.

"LEA!" Ryo yelled, only to get his arms twisted further back by Dais's hold. Sekhmet pulled his sword from his side and held it to the young man's neck for good measure.

Cale vanished in a swirl of his cape and reappeared in front of Ryo.

"Now your turn." He hissed, eyes glowing. All at once his voice was masked with that of a neither spirit. Ryo twisted away as the warlord reached to his side and produced a cloth bag from his hip.

"But before we kill you…we want the Inferno armor."

Ryo twisted back farther, only to be stopped by Dais. Cale opened to the cloth bag and held the gold dust in the Ronin Warrior's face.

"It's unfortunate that the only thing that stood a chance at protecting you is dead now." The spirit in Dais hissed.

"All because you didn't trust each other…" Sekhmet's voice vanished under that of another spirit.

Cale lifted the bag over Ryo's head and started to pour the gold dust down.

And at once, Ryo's mind stopped screaming about Lea's death…and in pain.

* * *

AN:

Chapter 4 is all of Chapter 5…and 3 pages longer with a hell of a lot better battle scene than before. The whole fight with Lea and Ryo was dropped here, since it got moved up into the locker room scene and went straight for the goods…an all out beat down with the Warlords. I did consider while I was writing this chapter (hahah….at 105 wpm…not a whole lot of time to think ahead) of throwing in a fight scene at the Manor…but I tossed in Rowen's accident with Sekhmet's swords and decided to cut that whole piece out at the last minute. Thus the incredibly crappy get away by Sage and Kento. Don't worry…the story must not end like this! The original TRR is 180 pages and the new version is now ten pages longer than before. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! Remember, art over at my deviant Art account! There is a new pic of Lea up in honor if Chapter 1.

-Stargazer86


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors

**Chapter Five**

Sage flew from his truck towards Mia's jeep. Cye heaved Rowen out of the back of the car, rushing him off the side of the road to the benches in the rest area along the highway. They were lucky the spot was completely deserted and well out of site of the main road.

"What was it!" Sage demanded as he rushed over, donning his sub armor.

"Sekhmet's venom!" Cye replied as he set Strata down on the ground. Mia rushed over with Kento, who was already in armor and keeping watch as Sage dropped to his knees at Rowen's side.

Sage looked over the cut, seeing just how deep it went. He cursed as he tried to revive the Ronin of Wisdom before unleashing his armor's powers. At once Sage began to drive his healing energies into Rowen's body.

Cye nodded slowly at Halo as the gash through the armor began to heal over. He watched on carefully as the color slowly started to return to his face.

"Kento! There are blankets under the seat of the truck." Sage called out as he felt the last of the negative energy and venom leave the Ronin Warrior's body. "He is still going to feel some of the effects from the venom, but this is the best I can do right now with Ryo missing."

Cye helped heave the warrior of Strata off the ground and over his shoulder. "I'll get him back in the jeep." He said quickly, meeting Kento at the car. Sage turned to Mia, seeing the blood all over her shirt.

"No! I'm alright." She said. "It's all Rowen's."

"Is Cye alright?" He asked, have noticed the scratches on Torrent's face.

Mia nodded slowly. "Yes. It's just a little cut from some glass." She walked over the jeep as Kento draped the blanket from the truck over Rowen's still body. "Are you sure he is going to be alright?"

Sage sighed a little. "Aside from some cold sweats and maybe some heat flashes, he should be fine." He informed. "My armor allows me to heal wounds and drive most of the toxins out of the body…but not all. There are some trace amounts left."

"We found something about the Guardians." Mia explained. "It appears there was another clan in Kyoto that fought Talpa several generations ago."

"So we have a two front war with Talpa and two clans involved…so there is a possible second set of armors." Sage mused as he considered the idea. "What happened with the second clan?"

Mia shrugged. "It appeared the Ancient let the attack that not only killed Talpa once before, but also lead a confrontation to drive the rest of the Dynasty forces back in Kyoto."

"They were indebt to us." Halo whispered.

Cye came over as they shut up the car. "So a clan indebt to the Ancient finds out that he takes Talpa's armor and makes nine armors and gives them human virtues." He said.

"Then the indebted clan decides the least they can do is to offer a live time of protection to the nine warriors who wear the armors…" Kento offered as he leaned on the jeep.

Mia's eyes widen in surprise. "And a ban of armors called the _Protectors of Warriors _are created…and later renamed the Guardians over the course of the last six hundred years!"

They stood there in silence for a few minutes considering the idea. Sage rubbed at his chin as he continued to mill it over in his head and wished that Rowen was not lying passed out in the car behind Kento.

"It makes perfect sense." Cye whispered, his eyes narrowing as he also considered the facts one more time. "From what we know so far…it makes sense…"

Mia nodded in agreement. "I think we figured it out." She whispered. "I might need to do more research to prove our thesis…but it is all logical."

Kento sighed as he stood up again. "Good. Now lets to talk to Lea about that debt she is suppose to be carrying out for this Clan she is from."

"Kento…" Sage said coolly. "That is not the best approach to be talking with her at this time." He warned. "And we are not completely sure. Until Mia can clearly define the conclusion we've reached with cold facts we can't go demanding Lea's allegiance to us at all."

"And you honestly think Ryo went for a hike and Lea so conveniently went sight seeing on the same day?" Hardrock snapped.

Cye looked over in surprise. "What!"

Sage sighed a little in frustration, the role of leadership having been officially declared now in Ryo and Rowen's absence. "We're going to Fuji. Right now." He informed, leading the way back to his truck. "Cye, stay with Mia and Rowen. We don't split up." He ordered. "Let's go."

* * *

Ryo cried out in pain as his armor's power began to surge. It was looking for a power source and there wasn't enough armors around him to pull enough energy to create the Inferno. Wildfire tried wrenching himself free as Cale pulled back and looked at the gold dust on his hand. With a smirk he reached over and wiped it across Ryo's face.

It felt like every nerve on his skin had been set on fire.

Dais winced as he tried to hold the struggling Ronin Warrior. "There are not enough armors here to create the Inferno."

Sekhmet growled. "We should hurry to the Dynasty and see if we can't secure Kayura's armor."

Cale shook his head as he watched Ryo fight off the will of his armor. As of now the Ronin leader was a ticking time bomb of power. The gold dust was going to keep forcing the armor to look for another source of power to become the Inferno. It would be their luck had any of the other Ronin Warriors been present.

Or the Ancient's staff.

"It will keep him subdued for the time being." The Warlord of Darkness muttered as Ryo gritted his teeth against screaming. He was shelled up inside his out of control armor trying to keep his senses straight. "It will only be a matter of time before he passes out from the demand."

"This could kill him." Sekhmet warned carefully.

"All the better." Dais muttered. "Lord Vallen had intentions of killing this one anyway."

Cale nodded in agreement as he leaned into Ryo, watching him twist and wince in pain. "The last time we attempted to possess the bearer of Wildfire, he turned our powers into his favor…then repelled the powers of fifteen spirits all at once."

Ryo gritted his teeth, feeling his power slowly come back under his control. He kept his focus on the voices of the three warlords, listening to them. Ryo reasoned that if he could just stay focused on them, he wouldn't pass out as quickly.

"I'm…not giving in to you…" He choked out.

Sekhmet started to laugh. "Shut up and die Ronin Warrior." He muttered under his breath. There was a moment's pause when he flinched, eyes widening just as a blur of red and white streak by and collided with him.

Ryo looked up pass Cale as the warlord went ground sliding across the beach. The air around them thickened as the warlord of Darkness took a startled gasp of horror. Dripping wet and bleeding from the cut just into her hair line, Lea came sliding to a stop on both feet, reversing her stance and charging again at full speed towards them again, this time at Cale.

"NOW!" Lea screamed, just as Whiteblaze came roaring into sight, charging at the other warlord.

"YOU! Your dead!" Cale yelled as he clenched his clawed hand and started running for the Guardian. Ryo's surprise vanished as Whiteblaze knocked Dais away, slamming both warriors to the ground with his massive weight. Ryo broke free and rolled clear.

Lea and Cale collided, the warlord lashing out from under his cape with his claws and scratching the Guardian's leg as she darted to the side of his blow and positioned her other foot into his path. Cale tripped and went face first into the ground with Lea's fist landing a blow to the back of his neck.

Ryo lurched up, spinning as Dais came back around. With all the force he could muster, Wildfire punched him in the face, denting the platting into the warlord's mug. Dais went back to the ground, blinded in the other eye with pain from the dented metal.

Wildfire stepped back, stumbling from the still numbing pain of the gold dust. In the bright sunlight of the afternoon, it make his armor glittered with a brilliant shine, regardless of it's painful side effects. What was on his face had numbed it, and touching it would lead to more pain as it got onto his armor.

Ryo fell back on the ground, catching himself with one arm and bracing his fall with the other. Whiteblaze wondered up to him, concerned, but keeping his distance of the dust that covered his charge.

"You alright?"

Ryo looked up to see Lea standing there, catching her breath and brushing some wet hair from her face. Her left cheek was redden from blood that covered her ear and jaw.

God damn, she was alive.

"You're…dead!" Ryo winced.

Lea lifted and eyebrow in mock amusement. "My acting was that good?" She stopped and winced, holding her brow. Ryo had no doubt she had a rather severe headache…if not a concussion.

"Come on," She sighed, offering him her hand. "Get up. We're getting the hell out of here while we can."

Ryo started to reach when he realized his armor was seeking out power. It was too late when Lea reacted and snatched his wrist. In a instant, the connection snapped and the two of them were engulfed in bolts of energy. Ryo hissed as he felt the overload. Lea let out a wild scream and staggered to the ground, unable to pull away.

Both virtues of Righteousness appeared on their foreheads at the same time. Ryo yelled and twisted his arm out of her hand and the Guardian collapsed on her hands and knees in front of him, choking for air. Ryo winced as he felt the glimmer of a headache coming on…which quickly faded with the cold/hot presence of his virtue.

Ryo pulled himself over, careful this time not to touch Lea at all as he leaned in and asked, "You alright?"

Lea winced as she looked up at him, her eyes wide with confusion. "Wha…what was that?"

The Ronin leader shook his head and pulled back. "Gold dust." He muttered. "Don't touch me."

Lea growled a little as she staggered to her feet. "No problem there…" She muttered. As soon as the words escaped her, Ryo spotted Sekhmet coming at them from the air. Whiteblaze roared in warning and bolted clear as two swords landed between them and blew the two warriors away.

The Guardian recovered and landed lightly on her free when suddenly all six blades appeared around her and exploded. Lea's vision darkened as a smog cloud of air born venom. Ryo started rushing in when Dais, minus the face plate, lunged in his way to cut him off. Cale reappeared in front of Lea in her moment of blindness and growled.

"If killing you is too hard, then I will rip away your powers once and for all!" He roared, opening the bag of gold dust. He threw it at the Guardian. Lea lurched back as she was covered in it.

Ryo went for his swords, just as a few scattered neither spirits appeared around them. Dais and him locked weapons as he tried to force his way pass, seeing a blinded Guardian yelp in pain as her armor was summoned against her will. As a last ditch effort, she called it forth…hoping to stop the power surge.

"Armor of Wildfire!" Lea screamed as her sight started to return. But as soon as her power up finished, Cale came running from her blind side, followed by Sekhmet. The two danced circles around the young woman as she held one blade ready.

Ryo blinked in surprise as he held Dais back. Lea really did wear the armor of Wildfire like him. He noticed first that the armor hid her features incredibly well. And with her hair tucked up under the helmet, she looked exactly like him.

"Amazing isn't it." Dais's neither spirit hissed at Ryo. "It a defense. Though the bearer is female…they can take on the physical appearance of the Warrior to fool enemies into thinking they have found the real thing."

Ryo stated at him in utter horror. "What did you say?"

Dais smirked, eye glowing faintly. "Guardians were created to die for the Ronin Warrior they were meant to protect." He informed.

Cale lunged in, his fist brandishing the pouch of gold dust. He swung with all his might and punched Lea in the face, spilling more dust over her armor. She hit the ground wincing as she fought down her armor's power.

Ryo snatched his other sword out of it's sheath and beat Dais back, breaking through his guard and going for the downed Guardian. The neither spirits around her started to mobilize as she yelped, getting back up only to have her armor start to glow with the power surge.

With an ear spitting scream it shattered into a million pieces and began to swirl around her. Ryo froze in muted surprise as he watched the all so familiar power up of the Inferno Armor.

She was donning the armor…and there was no one else to pull power from!

Lea cried out as her virtue appeared on her forehead, just as her sub armor turned black and blue. Neither Spirits rushed in, trying to possess the armor as it went through the power up.

Ryo's virtue appeared at the same time.

He caught images of the spirits…from Lea's point of view. He suddenly felt her pain, on top of his own…saw the Warlords from where she was standing…

_MAKE IT STOP! _Lea's thought screamed in his head.

Ryo lurched back as the power up finished and the feelings and visions faded away.

_What the hell just happened?_ Ryo thought desperately as Lea staggered in darken white armor. He watched in amazement as the Guardian forced herself to move in the all so familiar stance he had used once to repel the spirits. Her armor exploded with white light, sending spirits screaming from her body.

Ryo rushed in as Lea staggered and fell on her knees.

"You're wearing the Inferno armor!" Ryo whispered.

The two warlords started to back away cautiously. "Damn! It didn't work!" Sekhmet snapped.

"We must get Lord Vallen, now!" Cale hissed.

The three warlords vanished at once.

Lea winced a little as she sat back in the sand, her white armor catching the sunlight and gleaming brightly against the shore. Ryo stood over her, blinking in complete and utter confusion.

"I don't get it!" Ryo said. "You donned the Inferno armor without other armors to help you."

Lea gritted her teeth and looked up at him through the brown face plate. "Augh, god damn it! Of course I did!" She snapped. "This is the Phoenix Inferno! It doesn't need the other armors to create it!"

Ryo stepped back as he was yelled at. Lea looked away again with a wince. Apparently she was having a hard time controlling the armor. Ryo moved in to help her up when she swatted away his hand. "Don't touch me!" She barked.

"This is making no sense now!" Ryo yelled. "What the hell is going on? This is all starting to go to hell in a hand basket! NOW TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!"

Lea faltered to her feet and growled at him. "Are you blind? We're at war! The Dynasty under went a revolt six months ago!" She barked. "I was living a pretty peaceful life in New York when those three monsters showed up and killed the other Guardians damn it! You don't know what is going on? This is all happening too fast for anyone to understand!" Her voice started to crack. "How can you be so blind as to not notice the changes in this world? Terrorism, crime rates, un-natural disasters! The new Shogun of the Dynasty is tearing the Mortal Realm apart through the Gates!"

Ryo grabbed his head as he heard all this. He was hearing answers to questions he didn't even have and getting even more confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" Ryo yelled in her face.

Lea, seething at this point, drew back her fist and punched him.

Ryo hit the ground, his helmet rolling across the sand. He tasted blood coming to his lips.

"You call yourself a Ronin Warrior?" Lea hissed through her teeth her armor powering down to Wildfire. "One of THE Ronin Warriors destine to fight Talpa for the fate of the Mortal Realm? Are you really the Ronin Warrior I have to pledge my life too? I'd sooner fight this one alone than with a blind fool!"

"'Pledge your life'?" Ryo murmured. "What the—"

"RYO!" Sage shouted.

Both Wildfires turned and looked to the forest. Lea backed off, putting distance between herself and Ryo as Sage, Cye, and Kento came running down to the beach. Weapons in hand and at full tilt. Ryo jumped in front of Lea, warding them off. "STOP!" He ordered.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kento demanded, rushing up to his leader. "Jesus Christ Ryo! We've been looking all over for you!"

Sage and Lea locked eyes.

_So you do wear a Wildfire armor._ He thought to her.

_You are starting to sound like a broken record. _Lea snapped back.

"Ryo, we need to get the hell out of here." Cye said quickly. "We've got Mia and Rowen back on the road waiting for us. The warlords—"

"Have been attacking us." Ryo finished.

The others stopped and stared in surprise before Sage started to reach out and touch Ryo's shoulder. His hand was swatted away by Lea. "Don't touch him." She said coldly. "He's covered in gold dust."

"It'll try to take your armor's power to create the Inferno." Ryo explained, remembering that only he and Rowen were the only ones who knew about it. "It's best to just keep your distance."

Kento growled. "You know what, I'm starting to wonder if Lea is even a good guy—girl to begin with." He muttered.

"Kento!" Cye hissed.

"I mean, look at what's happened. Warlords popping up everywhere and attacking us? First off, they were our allies, so what the hell happened? And they are back to getting revenge for killing Talpa…which has resulted in Rowen being out cold in the back of Mia's jeep." Kento pointed his staff at Lea and growled. "The Ancient says 'the mistrust must be bridged'…and we have to make an ally out of this girl?"

Ryo started in to stop Hardrock's mouth when Lea appeared out of no where and landed a perfect right hook into the warrior of Justice's face.

"You don't want my help? I don't want to deal with stupid fools like you." Lea snapped and pounced away into the forest.

Kento got back up, dabbing blood from the corner of his mouth. "See! See what I mean? Come on! You said it yourself! She could be as bad as Kayura! She could be working for the Dynasty even if she keeps claiming we're the warlords!"

Ryo sighed in dismay. "Kento! The warlords tried to kill her damn it!"

Kento crossed his arms. "Na-uh. We're being played. And played good."

"Stop it!" Cye yelled. "Let it go alright? We need to get back to the jeep and get Mia and Rowen home where we're all going to be safe."

The four warriors stood there, calming down. Every attempt Kento made to prove his point was shot down before he could open his mouth. Ryo sighed in defeat and started walking towards the forest with the others in tow.

He had come too far and lost it in a matter of seconds.

_Maybe we should have one of those 'sit-downs' we always hear on TV._ Ryo thought as they marched away from the lake. He looked up into the branches to see if Lea was still there. But he was sure the woman was long gone.

Whiteblaze let out an ear splitting roar, just as the earth began to shake..

Ryo whipped around just in time to get punched in the face. Behind him the other three Ronins were now scattered across the beach with the warlords in tow.

Ryo staggered back, looking at the man that has come out of his blind side. He was dressed completely in black with oily silver accents and two katana at his hips. Over all this was a bright dark red coat to adorn his armor.

"I'm quite finished with this fiasco!" The man barked through his masked helmet. All Ryo could make out were a pair of black eyes, no color in them at all.

"Who are you?" Ryo demanded, going for his own weapons.

"I'm Lord Vallen." The warlord replied, ripping his swords from their sheaths and lunging at the Ronin leader.

* * *

AN: Hey, look. Another Chapter! Hahaha. The whole fight scene breaks over three chapters now. I can't tell if that is a bad or good thing. Anyway, Enjoy. Thanks for reading a reviewing.

-Stargazer86


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors.

**Chapter Six**

Lea landed lighting on her feet in the middle of a clearing. She reached up to her helmet and pulled it off, letting her hair fall down her back again. As she walked carefully through the woods, Lea touched the cut along the side of her head and followed it up into her hair.

Cale had hesitated in his swing…the Spirit had been bent on killing her.

Lea pulled her hand back and looked at her redden fingers.

But the man Ryo claimed to be an ally had managed to hit her with the flat of his sword. Lea knew she wasn't going to recover in time to fight him off. With a sigh, she determined that this was going to need a trip to a hospital and a very good cover story.

She was just breaking the hill onto the main trail when she heard a startled gasp.

Lea looked up the wooden steps to the parking area, seeing a woman with bright red hair looking down at her. Lea froze at the sight of blood covering the woman's shirt.

"Oh my god." Lea whispered. "Are you alright?" She demanded, rushing over, forgetting she was still dressed in full Ronin armor.

The woman lurched back, only to be stopped by a red jeep behind her. The rear door was opened just enough to reveal a young man leaning in the seats covered in a rough blanket. Lea dropped her helmet on the ground and held her hands out to the woman to show she was unarmed.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked. "Listen, my name is Lea. Do you need me to call the cops? Is your friend alright?"

"You're…you're the Guardian they've been looking for aren't you!" The woman whispered. "Are the guys alright? Where is Ryo? He must be here if you're here!"

Lea blinked in confusion and surprise when she saw the man in the back seat stir and look over in the direction of their voices. Only then did she realize that under the blanket he was wearing dark blue sub armor.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Hey…you're…that Lea girl…"

Lea lurched back.

"Wait! Listen to me!" The red head yelped. "My name is Mia Koji! I'm a professor of the regional college for Mythology and History! I know about the Ronin Warriors! And I have information about the origins of the Guardians!"

Lea froze, looking over in surprise. "You're kidding right?"

Mia shook her head as she pulled a book off the hood of the jeep and held it open to a marked page. "It's all here! I swear. We're very surprised that there is another set of armors. We've been looking for more information when we got attacked this morning."

The Guardian looked to the warrior sitting in the back of the jeep. He was trying to get up and moving again. "He is the Ronin Warrior of Strata, I take it?" Lea said.

The warrior nodded. "I'm Rowen…from Homeroom A. You're in class with my friend Sage." He hobbled out of the jeep and leaned on the opened door. "I take it you either got in a huge fight with Ryo or a warlord jumped in to land that nasty blow."

Lea looked at his arm. "Guess we have something in common then." She said hotly. "Look, if you guys are alright…then I'm leaving."

"Wait!" Mia protested. "Won't you stay? You could help us understand all this data if you are really one of the Guardians."

"Sorry, Mss Koji, but I'm not allying myself to those losers." Lea informed as she went to pick up her helmet. She froze just shy of grabbing one of the horns.

"MIA!" Rowen yelled.

Lea whipped around, snatching a sword from its sheath and burying it into a soldier's chest. The animated armor crumbled to the ground in front of her. Rowen jumped in front of the professor, shielding her as another drew back his scythe for a killing blow.

With a scrape of steel on steel, Lea lurched in and cut the soldier down through the waist.

"Jesus Christ!" Lea barked. "Who's bright idea was it to leave an injured Ronin to defend a teacher?" She demanded, wondering if these guys could be any dumber when her breath caught in her chest.

She turned back to Rowen. "Vallen is here!"

"Val—who?" Rowen winced.

Lea pointed back towards the beach. "The new Shogun of the Dynasty! He's here!"

Rowen woke up then. "What! A new Shogun?"

* * *

Ryo hit the ground, hard. He couldn't get back up with all the beating he had taken in the last few hours from just about everyone. He could hear the others struggling to stay up and keep fighting the warlords, which wasn't proving to be so hard.

"What a shame." The warlord, Vallen, muttered. "You know, it really is sad when a Guardian stands a better chance of survival than the Ronin Warrior."

Ryo winced as he forced himself onto his feet. "What the hell do you want with her?"

"Lea?" The Shogun laughed under his breath. "I really could care less about that bitch if it wasn't for the fact she has a white armor like you."

Wildfire growled a little. "What have you done to the Dynasty?"

Vallen twirled his swords in each hand separately, bringing them back around and lowering again into a battle stance. "Reformation. I personally don't like Kayura. And, I don't like her leadership even more…so I decided I would take over and turn things back to Talpa's era! The way it should be!" He lunged forward, swinging his blades around to catch Ryo off his guard. The Ronin managed to evade the blows with ease.

"We defeated Talpa! We can defeat a lowly warlord too!" Ryo countered. "You are way out of your league."

Vallen laughed. "Look around you boy! Does it look like I'm a mere push over!" He locked weapons with the Ronin leader and shoved him to his knees on the ground. "Last time I check, I single handily defeated all three Warlords and took out four of the leading Guardian armors!"

Ryo blinked in surprise. "What! There are more Guardians?"

Vallen smirked. "And they are all dead…along with your friends…"

Ryo heard the explosions in the distance. They were sure-kills…which sounded unnaturally powerful. He wrenched his swords away from Vallen and looked just in time to see all three warlords pin down his comrades at arms and let loose super powered attacks. Ryo lurched forward, running into the wake of the explosion as Sage, Cye, and Kento were hurtled through the air and collided with the ground.

"Guys!" Ryo yelled as he rushed in, only to be cut off by Vallen.

"Surrender your armor, and I will spare their lives!" He hissed.

Ryo watched in horror as the three possessed Warlords approached his down friends and beat their weapons from their hands. They were completely defenseless as arms were drawn against them.

"I'm not in the mood to wait." Vallen said coolly as he tested the swings of his swords. If he timed it just right he could quickly kill the Ronin leader as he dropped arms.

Ryo stood there, considering the idea. All the while he was watching as Cale knocked Sage's helmet from his head and rammed his sword under the blonde warrior's throat. Cye craned his neck away from a venom covered blade and Kento was completely pinned down. Mists all this, Whiteblaze was warded off by a horde of soldiers, waiting to slay the tiger at any chance as they held him back.

"LOWER YOUR ARMS OR THEY DIE!" Vallen roared.

Ryo's swords dropped a hair.

There was the moment of opportunity. Vallen watched ad the katanas lowered just enough to kill the Ronin Warrior of Wildfire. Apparently from behind him, Sage of Halo could see the opening that the Shogun was going to take.

"RYO! NO!" Sage yelled, only get his head wrenched back with a fist full of hair and Cale's sword rammed harder against his neck.

Ryo went to block, only to late to raise his guard again when out of the blue golden arrows showered down on them and a fury of red shot between him and Vallen. Ryo ducked out of the way as Lea's knee collided with the Shogun's head, knocking him away from the Ronin leader.

The beach seemed to explode with golden arrows. Ryo looked up to the tree line as Rowen stood perched in a branch and let loose on the Warlords below, chasing them off of their friends. Lea was standing careful watch as Vallen kept testing the swing of his blades as they rolled is his hands.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite Guardian." Vallen spat.

Lea tightened her grip and let out this most vicious growl Ryo had heard yet. She was starting to shake with unguarded rage.

The Shogun reached down to his waist as he sheathed one sword and pulled the coil of leather from his belt. It was a full length whip. "Something told me you were going to be here."

Lea flinched as the whip snapped at the air. The others came rushing in as they fought off the warlords to stand behind Ryo and Lea. The Ronin leader watched in wonder as Vallen lashed out with the whip again, just mindlessly snapping at the air. Each snap made the Guardian in front of him madder. Her eyes had widen slightly and were getting more and more distant.

Rowen jumped down beside his leader. "Ryo, stop her!" He hissed.

Ryo looked over, confused when he head the whip snapped the air again. At that moment, Lea's eyes had gone completely blank.

She had been possessed by pure and unguarded rage.

"ARMOR OF PHOENIX!" Lea screamed, startling the other Ronin Warriors back. The power up engulfed the air around her, shattering her armor. Her sub armor turned black and blue and the shards formed over her arms as gauntlets. Where as Ryo seemed always amazed by the Inferno power up, Lea felt this action to be completely natural to as the flames exploded from the gauntlets and formed the chest plate, helmet, and skirt. As soon as the boots finished their transformation from shards and light, Lea snatched her Wildfire swords from their sheaths and charged at the Shogun in full tilt.

"I hope you burn in hell!" Lea screamed at Vallen as they locked weapons.

Rowen lurched forward, preparing to stop this. "Damnit! She's out of control!" He barked.

"Rowen!" Ryo grabbed his arm as he started to by, disregarding the fact that he was still covered in the residue of gold dust.

The reaction was instant.

Rowen buckled, yelling as all his power was taken out. He felt Ryo try to release, though it was already too late. Sage lunged in as fast as he could to break the connection, getting zapped at through the power surge as he took Strata's bow in one hand and nearly broke his leader's hand free of Rowen's arm. The three lurched back.

Rowen looked up from the ground were he was on one knee. "Jesus Christ!" He panted, looking back to see what the hell has just happened. It was then that he could make out the smear of gold dust across Ryo's face and the gleam of it over his chest plate. He let out a resounding curse as he got back up.

Ryo winced, the pain coming back from the power surge. His armor wanted more power. It wanted the powers of the other four. It wanted to become the Inferno! He gritted his teeth against screaming and tried to focus in on the sound of Lea and Vallen's weapons clashing in the distance.

"This isn't good." Cye whispered as he watched the battle carefully. "He is really the new Shogun?"

Rowen hissed as he nursed his wounded arm, which had also been the one Ryo and grabbed. "Forget that. Lea is gonna get herself killed!" He informed. "And the only way to stop this asshole is to let him have it!"

Sage nodded as he handed back Rowen's bow. "She is in a blind rage. If she isn't careful, recklessness will get her killed."

Kento scoffed. "Kill two birds with one stone."

Cye's hand connected with the back of his head with a resounding smack of armor against armor.

Ryo straightened up, fighting off the surge of his armor. He was going to have to give in to it. He saw the look in Rowen's eyes, demanding a logical decision before someone got killed…but there didn't look to be one at all.

Wildfire sighed a little as he made up his mind. They had to do it.

"I need the Inferno." Ryo said calmly.

"No." Sage said quickly. "You haven't worn that armor in almost a year! You're not ready for the surge!"

Rowen stood silent as Cye cut in. "Who knows what will happen? You could be down for days—"

"Ryo…man….think it over." Kento warned. "And I mean…think it over!"

Wildfire sheathed his swords behind his back and stepped away from the other four Ronin Warriors. "I have. This is our only way."

Rowen nodded as he clasped his bow in each hand and took a deep breath. "To Arms!" He commanded, knowing Sage wouldn't dare do it now over his protest. The other Ronins willing followed suit, there armors creating spheres and draining their power.

Ryo took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he knew was going to hurt just as much as having his powers stripped away. He let it go, feeling the power spike as the four armors around him submitted their powers. The Wildfire armor shatters into a million pieces and flecks of gold dust. At once the smear of it across his face started to sting…and did the power up. And the pain only built itself up.

Ryo gritted his teeth against it and donned the Inferno armor as it created itself over his body. As soon as this was over, he could have complete control and the effects of the gold dust would wear off. He heard a roar in the distance as Whiteblaze powered up with the armor and turned into Blackblaze. The blast shattered the soldiers around the tiger, freeing him. The animal ran at full speed towards his charge with the Soul Swords of Fever clanking as his side.

Ryo snatched the swords from their sheaths and took off in Lea and Vallen's wake.

* * *

Lea lunged forward, swinging with all the power she could muster from her slight form into each blow. Her offense was furious with no defense what so ever…but it was enough to keep Vallen back, since he had handicapped himself with one blade. The whip in his hand swung around in the air as they moved, just snapping harmlessly around them.

Vallen darted clear as a Wildfire blade nicked his shoulder guard and spun the whip through the air. He tried in vain to catch the Guardian in the swirl of leather. He twisted his wrist back to close in on her, which resulted in Lea reversing the twist and charging back at him.

He growled and blocked again.

"Should have used both swords!" Lea barked. "You don't stand a chance!"

Vallen snarled a her. "Really. I think the blind rage is working in my favor!" He snapped, the whip in his hand pulling back and swinging. Lea leaned clear, leaving herself completely open as the end of the rope went around her neck and under her helmet, catching perfect hold around her throat.

Lea's eyes widen in horror when the Shogun wrenched his arm back with the most vicious twist and drag the woman down. The Guardian hit the dirt, all the air cutting off to her lungs.

"You are lucky I didn't feel like adding acid to the rope." He hissed, annoyed that he hadn't thought this could have possibly happened. He pulled the Guardian up to her knees and shorted the slack in the whip, hosting her up and closer to look him in the face.

"It is a real shame, honestly." Vallen muttered. "You truly had a great deal of potential as a Guardian. Much more that those that followed you blindly to their deaths."

Lea's eyes widen, the glint of rage vanishing as he kept talking. She managed to suck in one painful breath through her teeth before the rope tightened again.

"I don't think you full comprehend the events that lead to this moment." The Shogun leaned in, boring holes into her eyes. It had been the first time he had ever gotten this close to this young woman before. "You honestly thought a group of girls, younger than the original Ronin Warriors, stood a chance in hell of taking down the Dynasty in the wake of the revolt.

"It was your leadership that killed the Guardians of Halo, Strata, Hardrock, and Torrent. Your decisions brought you here, where it was easy to locate all five of the Ronin Warriors...who will be promptly dealt with in due time…and your actions that has lead to this moment…you death!"

The slack came back and Vallen's foot connected with her chest, ramming her down to the ground and pinning her there. Lea looked back in horror as the blade of his sword came down between the lip of her helmet and the collar of her armor, right against her exposed throat. She closed her eyes against the steel blade and gritted her teeth.

Vallen smirked a little. He had managed to crush the girl's fighting spirit.

"Call me a godsend, Lea of Wildfire." The Shogun whispered. "Because you are going to repent for the rest of eternity in hell for the deaths of your friends because of your lack of leadership!"

Lea's eyes snapped open, her voice lost as Vallen moved to drive the blade down when Ryo Sanada charged into the man's side and sent him flying off the Guardian and into the water.

"Lea!" Ryo shouted, hoping he had been fast enough.

Lea sat up, her hand coming down on a sword. She was shaking as she got back to her feet and drawing up her weapons. Vallen raised himself out of the water and glared at the two warriors in contempt. Had he not spent all that time twisting the woman's mind into a mess, he could have killed one of them.

He knew he couldn't take both…yet.

"I hope we meet again, Ryo of Wildfire." Vallen smirked. "Don't let that Guardian of your get you killed." And with that, he vanished…along with the three warlords who had been waiting for the command to retreat.

Ryo sighed in relief as he watched the Shogun leave. It was about time the Dynasty finally took their defeat and left. He heard Blazeblaze run up behind him, taking back the swords in his hands. In his wake came the other Ronin Warriors, coming to investigate the battle field.

Wildfire looked over to the Guardian who was standing silently behind him. Her armor washed away from the Phoenix Inferno, to Wildfire, and then into sub armor. Lea reached to her neck absently and felt the touch of blood against her skin…and it didn't have an effect on her as she pulled back her hand and looked at it.

As Ryo walked over, his own armor powered down…but he was starting to stagger as he moved. He started to reach for her bloody temple when Lea took a step back out of his reach.

"Let…Sage heal that." Ryo said calmly.

Lea shook her head and lowered her hand to her side. She stood there, staring at him as the yells of the other Ronin Warriors drew closer. They had gone a far distance down the beach in the middle of battle.

Ryo started to say more when words failed him. He swayed on his feet as his vision started to darken. The last thing he saw as he fell over was Lea rushing in to grab him as he went to the ground…

And letting go as she took off into the forest…

* * *

AN: At long last, a three chapter update from X-mas break. I had these chapters finished some time ago. I dropped the conclusion piece that ended this battle...with everyone going home. Vallen is no longer a campy villian. he is one bad ass dude now I think. Some of his uglier traits are getting pulled over to some other characters in my squeal story, Whispers. That one is starting to get a little nasty itself. I think I'm talking all of ROCN (Return of Childhood Nightmares) and moving it over into Whispers since it appears to bean interesting cocept to mess with the Ronins. I am not carrying over Sage's sickness from that fic. That is it's own story.

If you want to discuss this story in more detial with other readers and myself, I have a forum on the site in the RW section with my screen name in the title. Topics are going to be set up by story and other larger issues to discuss.

Anyway, enjoy. Thanks for Reading and reviewing.

-Stargazer86


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers.**

**Chapter Seven**

Sage tapped his pencil at the desk, looking at the clock instantly. The morning had begun and there was no sign of Lea after the events of Saturday. The professors had merely frowned at her absence and went right on to teach class as if nothing happened.

He had been well enough to get up this morning to go to school, after sleep through the better part of the day before. The others had managed the same, except for Ryo, who was still out cold from using his Inferno armor.

Professor Himeto walked by, passing out assignments when two pieces of paper fell on Sage's desk. One was his homework and the other was Ryo's.

"Please take that to Mr. Sanada." The professor ordered and carried on down the line of students. Sage sighed and tucked the papers away into his case. The bells rung overhead, releasing the students to lunch.

Sage found Kento and Rowen waiting for him down the hall by Homeroom C. The three of them entered the empty classroom and shut the door behind them.

"Did anyone check on Ryo before we left this mornin'?" Rowen asked.

Halo nodded slowly. "Yes. He should be coming around sometime tonight. But I don't think he is going to be well enough for classes tomorrow." He pillowed his head on his arms and closed his eyes.

"I think I should have stayed in bed too." Kento groaned as he opened his lunch and stabbed at it with chopsticks. "I can barely stay awake…"

The door opened a crack and Amiga peaked in. "Hey, I hear Ryo isn't in class!"

Sage sighed, rolling his head to look the other way. Rowen must have answered her question because the girl broke right into her gossip. "Kinda strange when Lea also turns up missing. You think the two are playing hooky?"

"No." Rowen stated. "Ryo's home, asleep. He came down with a bad flu over the weekend."

Amiga let out a loud sigh of defeat. "Thanks for shattering a dream."

"Take your rumors somewhere else!" Kento barked, throwing his chopsticks at the girl. At once a series of giggles exploded behind the door just as Amiga dashed out and shut it. The two sticks buried themselves in a splintery mess into the door.

Kento sat there, blinking in surprise. Rowen assessed the damage before going back to eat his soup as he sat in the window with his feet on the table.

"I'd watch what I'd throw Kento," Sage mumbled, even though he had not seen the event. "You're powers aren't in check when you are that exhausted." He heard the big Ronin get up clean up the mess.

"So Lea isn't here either?" Rowen asked.

Sage finally sat up and began to open his meal. "Yes." He informed. "But I expected it."

Kento scoffed as he came back and started to eat again with slightly shorter chopsticks. "I hope we don't see her again." He muttered. "I think she is bad news."

"How so?" Rowen asked.

"Come on!" Kento barked. "We were having a pretty uneventful life until she showed up and brought the three warlords with her and that Vallen dude."

Sage stared at him. "I don't think she is in league with the new Shogun at all." He informed. "I don't know how she made a break for it in the condition she had been in."

"I'd run too if I saw that runnin' at me." Rowen pointed a stick at Kento accusingly. Hardrock just glared at him as Strata went on to explain, "Lea was helpin' Ryo. And she protected Mia and I from the soldiers that appeared."

Sage sighed as he sifted through his lunch. "The warlords have been possessed by Neither Spirits. Did anyone see Kayura?" He asked.

The two Ronins shook their heads.

"We better find out what happened to her."

"From what I understand," Cye said as he appeared in the room a moment later. "There has been a revolt in the Dynasty."

"Yeah. Lea said something about that when we were rushing back to help you guys." Rowen informed. "Somethin' about a disagreement, a radical faction…and a revolt that resulted in Kayura being overthrown."

Cye sat down and started to open his meal as they talked. "And it appears this faction is loyal to Talpa." He muttered. "So if we plan on taking off into the Dynasty…we're going to run into pockets of insurgents, no doubt, lying in wait for us to come in there and stop them."

"I don't know." Kento murmured. "If anyone was able to take down the three warlords…that's a pretty tall order there."

Rowen had paused for a moment, thinking before looking at the group. "Mia confirms the story of the Guardians being ligament. If there are in fact nine Guardian armors and Lea is the one who wears the Wildfire…where are the other four Guardians?"

The group sat there in silence as they contemplated information.

Sage stood up and walked to the front of the room, looking around the professor's desk. The others watched him as he leafed through papers sitting on the countertop. He let out a triumphant cry as he held up a handful of index cards.

He put them back and returned to his friends. "I'm going back to the room to find out where she lives. I'll be right back."

Kento watched him take off, leaving his lunch unguarded on the table. He was well through his already. The warrior of Justice started to reach out with his sticks to nab the unwanted food when Cye's let out a snap and hit the back of his hand.

"Hands off." He ordered. "Sage needs that as much as you do." He went back to drinking his iced tea, all the while listening to Kento's whimpering and Rowen soft chuckle of amusement.

Sage reappeared after five minutes with a scrap of paper in his hands. "I have it." He informed.

Rowen frowned, putting down his empty dish. "It's amazin' what teachers leave out." He muttered as he took the paper from Sage, who went back to eating his saved meal.

He handed the paper to Cye and Kento to examine. "It looks like it's just a walk down the street from here."

* * *

Rowen looked down at the paper, making sure the numbers were right to the apartment. He took a moment to glace at the others, just in time to see Kento palm his armor orb into his hands and hold ready. Paranoia ran thick in that man's veins. He sighed in dismay and started to knock on the door.

There was no answer.

"She must be out cold." Cye said quietly. He got a strange look from Kento. Torrent sighed in defeat. "Kento, she's a woman! If the Inferno armor can put Ryo down for a week, who the hell knows what it would do to her!" he hissed.

"Shush!" Rowen ordered, testing the door knob. It turned a little, but only so far. He looked at Sage and flashed him a grin as he produced a paperclip from his uniform pocket and proceeded to pick the lock.

Cye blinked at him in surprise. "Jesus Christ! Rowen!"

"I said, Shush!" He ordered again as he twisted the length of metal around in the dead bolt. There came a slight click and the triumphant fist pump as Rowen got up again and turned the knob. The door started to open and came to a sudden stop.

Rowen glared at the chain that held the door from opening.

Kento reached in and snapped a link between two of his fingers. It shattered and hit the floor.

The door opened with ease at this point, allowing the four young men entrance.

"We are in so much trouble if Ryo finds out!" Cye hissed.

"He already went behind our backs and tried something like this!" Kento pointed out. "Tip for tap." He informed and walked into the living room as if he owned the place. He stood there and examined the furniture and the TV.

"You'd think her parents are here?" Rowen asked.

Sage shook his head. "No. She is here alone. And I don't think she is staying with a family…as hard as it might sound."

Rowen surveyed the room and turned to the open air kitchen to the left of the door. Cye stood behind him, thoroughly aggravated with the breaking and entering of the apartment. He turned as he heard Kento make a curious noise and hold up a picture from on top of the TV. "Hey, check this out!" He whispered to the others, calling them over.

"We're looking for the other four Guardians, right?" He said, holding up the picture. "Look at these girls!"

Sage and Rowen leaned in with Cye over looking them. The image was of Lea with four friends all collected together for a fast picture. There was a short haired blonde with beached highlights, a girl with the same black blue hair as Kento with an Asian appearance, a bright red head with a bow in her hair, and a blue haired girl with a braid hanging over her shoulder. Lea was the most obvious one to pick out from the group.

"Hey, isn't that the Empire State building?" Kento asked, pointing at the image's background.

"Yeah. It's taken in New York City." Sage informed. He pulled back as Kento flipped the frame over and gave it a long and hard look.

"It's been a while since I've been to my Uncle Chin's restaurant…but I swear to god I've seen this girl before." Kento stopped short before a strange look twisted his face and he set the picture down.

"You alright?" Cye asked, hoping he could get an excuse to make them all leave this place.

Kento nodded. "Yeah. I just…I just thought I might have…oh forget it." He swatted Torrent away and went around the room again with the others. Sage turned from the coffee table with a paper in his hands.

"There's the money." Rowen declared as his hawk eye vision picked up what was written on the document from the balcony door. "A medical bill."

Sage nodded as he leaned on the couch and looked it over. "It says she went to the hospital Saturday night…and was discharged in the morning." He skimmed it again. "Light concussion…but considering how long she was in armor, it might have been mild."

"Give and take the healing properties our armors already come with." Cye said coolly. "Was she hurt pretty bad?"

Halo frowned. "She took a bad hit to the head. That with the drain from her white armor, she going to need a lot of rest."

"And I can't do that with the four of you breaking into my home!"

Cye whipped around as he heard a gun hammer kick back. He lurched away from the door he was standing in front of as Lea walked out, holding the weapon ready.

Sage and Rowen threw their hands in the air along with Kento.

"Oi! Calm down!" Kento barked. "We didn't mean you any harm!"

Lea scoffed. "You broke into my apartment! What am I suppose to think?"

"Lea…put the gun down." Rowen ordered.

She sighed in dismay and motioned to the door. "Get the hell out."

Cye nodded. "Sorry for bothering you." He said, backing away and grabbing Kento as they made their getaway. Rowen and Sage skirted around the couch and made for the door in their wake as ordered, followed quickly by Lea. She slammed the door shut behind them.

She sighed again, looking at the broken chain. She was just starting to wonder away when the door opened again a crack.

Rowen and Sage lurched back as a plastic pellet hit the frame. It bounced to the floor at their feet.

Strata smirked a little. "It's a toy." He laughed under is breath. He had almost been sure that the gun she had been waving around was the real thing until he saw the orange ring around the barrel.

Sage leaned in, carefully to avoid getting pelted with plastic rounds. Lea was standing there, glaring at him.

"Hey…" He tried to get in further. "I'm sorry we broke in. We just came to see if you where okay."

Lea lifted an eye brow in speculation. "Oh really? And you consider going through my stuff a way of 'seeing if I was okay'?"

Sage handed her the discharge paper. "I can help you out a little."

The Guardian sighed and shoved him out the door. "Just leave me alone." She said quietly and shut the door in his face.

* * *

"She chased you out with a toy gun?"

Rowen nodded. "Yeah. One of those pump action guns that fires the plastic pellets. I have one of them in my room."

Mia shook her head. "You boys don't need to go harassing her!"

"We went to see if she was alright." Kento protested.

"No. You went to snoop." Cye said motherly, coming from the kitchen with another dish. "You went to see what you could find out about her, because you think she's on the Dynasty's pay roll."

Mia looked over to Kento, slightly surprised. "How could she? She was helping you fight…as a Guardian should…"

"If she really was a Guardian, then she wouldn't be kicking us out of her house and she would be devoting her loyalties to us right?" Hardrock barked as he spooned himself some more dinner. "I saw you working on that stuff tonight. A Guardian is to pledge their service of the sword to the Ronin Warrior of their corresponding armor and freely give their life to protect him!"

Cye sat down across from Kento just as Sage cut in. "It's the 20th Century, Kento. We don't deal or define the whole devotion/slavery in those terms anymore. Lea is an independent person and should not be forced to follow an ancient law and or code that is over 600 years old."

"I agree." Rowen spoke up. "For all we know there might be some bad blood runnin' between the Guardians and the Ronin Warriors. I mean…why the hell are they on the other side of world…if we assume those other girls we saw in the picture are also Guardians…instead of here in Japan?" He snatched a roll as the bowl crossed the table from Cye to Sage.

Mia nodded. "That might be the reason she is avoiding us." She looked up as the stairs creaked. Whiteblaze came down and found a soft spot on the floor to sleep on. She sighed a little in dismay. "I do want to talk to her again. If it is at all possible for one of you to convince her to come and see me, that would be a great help."

"Mia, she pulled a gun on us!"

"It was a toy, Kento." Rowen interjected.

"It was still a gun. I don't want Mia near her with out proper protection—"

"In case she is in league with the Dynasty." Cye finished for him, slamming the spoon for the rice back into the bowl with a loud crack. "If you don't stop with this 'in league' comment I'm going to take you outside and beat you senseless!"

Kento lowered his head and pouted. "But—"

"Lea is not part of the Dynasty. End of Story." Torrent finished.

* * *

The air was thick with humidity. Ryo found the trees to be unfamiliar to him, a completely different species surround him in the clearing. From where he stood, the canopy dropped just enough for him to see mountains he had never seen before in his whole life.

Where on earth was he?

He looked up through the branches to the stars, hoping they would make sense. Yes, they were familiar. He could make out the directions he needed to go through this dense wood and around these mountains. But it still bothered the Ronin leader.

He knew he had never been here before…but something…someone else, had though.

"Run!" A voice that was hard to discern screamed at him, the Ronin Warrior of Strata coming out of the thicket with a horde of soldiers in his wake. Ryo lurched back, turning as his comrade at arms caught up to him. The Ronin leader had been completely unaware of the fact he was dressed his armor.

They took off at a neck breaking paced down the mountain, narrowly avoiding out cropping of rocks that would have dumped them off into a serious fall. Ryo hurried up next to his friend, drawing arms.

"What's going on!" He demanded. "Where are we!?"

"There is a ravine on the northeast slope! We'll lose them there!" Rowen informed, as if he _knew_ the answer and had been here before. He took off down the rapidly descending slope as if it was nothing, leaving Ryo to stumble and slide after him.

"Rowen!" Ryo yelped as he felt the ground give way under him and he went down the steep slope. He managed to catch himself with a sword, just as the trees thinned out behind him…and a great scar in the face of the earth exposed itself through the trees.

_Where the hell am I!?_ Ryo thought. He had known in the first dream that he was running through the forest near Fuji. But he swore he had never seen trees like this before…nor mountains like these.

"MOVE!" Rowen ordered, lunging through the air and letting his armor create a sphere of energy. Ryo let go of the slope with his sword and began a steady slide down it's face as Rowen drifted down through the air after him, all the while firing arrows into the trees and killing soldiers.

Rowen landed lightly on the ground beside Ryo, his eyes darkening under the pale moon light and his helmet. He looked back up the slope as they neared the lip of the ravine.

"That should buy us some time." He panted.

Ryo nodded in agreement as he surveyed the area. "Rowen…where the hell are we."

"Didn't think the Radicals would follow us this far into the Adirondacks." Rowen muttered, keeling over a little as he caught his breath. "You alright?"

The Ronin leader looked down at his friend in utter confusion. Where the hell did he say they where? Was that even in Japan? He looked around again, trying his damnest to remember all the maps he had seen with mountain ranges.

He heard something roar in the distance.

Rowen looked up, his eyes widening in horror. "Oh damn—"

The ridge in front of them exploded.

The two Ronin Warriors went flying back over the cliff into the ravine. Ryo recalled the dream he had had before…when he actually lunging into it. This time he had the chance to save himself. He swung his sword bearing fist through the air and buried it into the face of the cliff, stopping his decent. With the raining of rocks from the slide of the mountain, Rowen failed to power up his armor's sphere.

Ryo reached out as Rowen started to grab for the air and locked their hands around each other's wrists.

"Augh…thanks." Rowen winced as he felt some small rock hit his helmet. Ryo smiled down at him, regardless of the rain of stone and earth.

Rowen was about to throw in some witty comment when he looked pass his leader to the ridge above them. Ryo whipped his head around, seeing a whole battalion of Dynasty soldiers standing there. Directly above them through was a man dressed in black armor and silver accents.

"Vallen!" Ryo whispered in shock.

Vallen smirked at them. "You thought you could out run me? You are both fools, Ronins." He reached to his belt and drew the whip from his waist. Ryo felt Rowen's grip slacken, and nearly fall.

"Ryo! Let go!" Rowen ordered. "I can take care of myself! Let go now!"

Ryo shook his head as he saw the soldiers around them load bows and take aim. If he let go, Rowen would be shot out of the air. He looked back to Vallen as he heard the whip snap. The length of leather came flying through the air, lashing itself around his wrist that clutched to the sword buried into the rock face.

"All that weight…you might need to let go." Vallen challenge as he tightened his grip. Ryo's eyes widen in surprise as he smelt acid. Acid burning into armor…his wrist!

Rowen tried to pull free. "Let go Ryo!"

Ryo winced as he felt the last of the armor give out around the underside of his wrist. It was starting to burn into his skin. "NO! I'm not letting go!" Ryo shouted, wincing as he tried to look pass Rowen to the ground below. He could see nothing but darkness. There might be trees, there might not be…but there was no way he was letting go.

"Ryo…"

Ryo opened his eyes from a wince, hissing in pain as the acid burned deeper. He looked down at Strata as he once again pressed the issue. Rowen looked up, smiling at him. That complete look of trust and faith in his eyes as he reasoned with his leader.

"Let go." He said.

The Ronin leader swore something strange had happened in that moment when he cried out in pain and suddenly released the warrior of wisdom's wrist. He didn't mean to let go. Ryo reached out into the air, regardless of the pain and his own personal safety. His grab fell short of Rowen's hand as it pulled away.

"NO!" Ryo yelled as he saw the Ronin power up the sphere to fly and was instantly shot down. He watched in horror as the bearer of Strata was speared from all directions with arrows and staffs…and sent plummeting to his death at the bottom of the ravine.

"ROWEN!" The Ronin leader screamed, feeling Vallen's whip slacken and let go. Leaving him there.

_"ROSE!" _

Ryo flinched, hearing the second scream. It wasn't his.

The ground rushed up revealing a stream in the valley below. It was like a mirror from the bottom of the ravine, dissolving the two falling Stratas into each other and bringing the two Wildfires face to face.

Ryo and Lea passed a look of recognition between each other as their outstretched hands met, and passed right through each other. And then they simply faded way into the night.

* * *

"Ryo?"

Ryo opened his eyes to see Rowen and Sage standing over him. He took a carefully breath as the two Ronins leaned back to give their leader some space. Ryo sat up and brushed some hair from his face.

"You alright?" Sage asked.

The Ronin leader nodded slowly. "I think so." He murmured.

"You were makin a lot of noise." Rowen said carefully. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ryo brushed his hand along his fore head, wiping away some sweat when he felt the hot/cold touch of his virtue. He looked up at the two of them in surprise just as Cye and Kento peaked in.

"It was just…a nightmare." Ryo whispered.

"This is one of the first times your virtue has glowed like that." Sage pointed out, just as it started to fade. He took a glass as Cye handed it to him and then offered it to Ryo. "What was it?"

Ryo shook his head as he held the cold glass of water in his hands. He frowned for a moment. "Rowen, where are the Adirondacks?"

Strata looked at him, confused. "Mountains?" He blurted out.

"Those are mountains in New York." Kento informed. "My Uncle and his family took me and my brothers up there for a hike once when we were little." His brow knitted together as he reasoned this out. "We don't even have American Geography in class…where the hell did you come up with this?"

Ryo looked up. "I just had one of Lea's nightmares." He stated. "No, not just a nightmare…it really happened!" He looked over at Rowen as he came to reason. "She and the Guardian of Strata, they were running from Vallen in the middle of the mountains…and he killed Strata!"

* * *

Lea sat up, listening to the sound of the curtains blowing the in breeze from the opened window. She sighed a little as she brushed her bangs back, at the same time pulling a bandage from around her temple free and tossing it aside. She ignored the virtue that faded from her forehead.

She pulled her hand back and looked at it in the pale light.

Her fingers flexed as she moved her wrist around.

Lea stopped and pulled her hand towards her to see in the dim light, gently running her fingers over the small scar, going around her wrist. It looked as if the sun hadn't seen skin under a watch band.

The Guardian pulled the covered back up and went back to lying down.

But she couldn't bring herself to go back to sleep.

* * *

Ryo looked at the paper in his hands before knocking on the door. He stepped back as the door opened, putting some distance between himself and the person who answered.

Lea leaned against the frame, watching him.

"Hi." Ryo smiled at her.

She seemed surprised. "Hello."

"I was um…in town and I thought maybe I'd drop by…" Ryo held up the paper in his hand. "I saw this on the kitchen table."

"Came to find out what trouble your friends have been getting themselves into?" The Guardian asked coldly. She stood there, contemplating her next move when she stepped back and opened the door. "You can come in. The gun wasn't real."

Ryo nodded as he walked into the apartment. "So I heard." He laughed nervously as he looked around the living room.

Lea came back from the kitchen with a glass in each hand. "Ice tea?" She offered.

The Ronin leader took the drink that was offered. He took a sip and looked around the room again, finding nothing out of the ordinary. "So, you didn't go to school either?" He noted.

The Guardian sat down at the couch, were the local paper and some books were sitting. "Don't want to go back looking like I got mugged." She pointed out. Ryo took a moment to notice that there was still a fairly decent sized cut on her temple and a reddish welt around her neck.

Ryo sat down in a chair nearby. "You should see Sage."

"I've said no." Lea informed, sipping at her tea. "I'm fine. I've already seen a doctor." She put down her glass and crossed her arms. "Why are you still out?"

The Warrior of Virtue scoffed a little. "Yeah…well…I haven't worn my white armor in almost a year…so it was a bit of a shock to my system."

Lea smiled in amusement. "So you guys are a little rusty."

"Didn't expect the Dynasty to sudden show up and attack us." Ryo sighed, rubbing the side of his head. "I'm real sorry for all this chaos."

The Guardian shook her head as she stood up. "It's not you." She said, taking her glass and walking to the kitchen. Ryo frowned as he watched her leave. There was a moment where he saw the picture sitting on top of the TV. He was getting up to check it out when Lea started talking again.

"Here." Lea said as she came back. Ryo suddenly found a package of crackers in his lap. He watched her sit back down.

He considered his words before looking up at the Guardian. "Lea, the other night—"

"I'm sorry." Lea said quickly, avoiding his eyes.

Ryo frowned. "Listen…we're all really curious to know if there are other Guard—"

"There is." Lea murmured. "There were…" She tightened her hand around the glass she held, the one with the scar around it. Ryo drew a breath of surprise, seeing first hand the result of Vallen's torture. He started to get up when Lea shot him a glare.

"I don't want your sympathy. I don't want your comfort or pity." She said quickly, though it seemed to pain her to do it. Lea looked down at the glass. "There were other Guardians. Eight in all." She put the glass down before she broke it in her hands. "They're all dead."

Ryo blinked in horror. "How—"  
"You know who did it." Lea said coolly.

The Ronin leader started to walk over when Lea stood up and planted her hand hard against his chest, keeping him back. He had no idea truly what he was suppose to do. Lea didn't look like a person who would break down under so much stress and pressure. Even if she wanted to give in to those emotions, she wouldn't dare do it in front of him or anyone else. Ryo backed off, raising his hands in defeat.

Lea sighed as she twisted a piece of her shirt's hem in her hands. "I…I think you should leave."

"You need help." Ryo said quickly. "You shouldn't be fighting Vallen and the Dynasty by yourself."

"I'm not fighting them. I'm trying to survive." Lea shot back quickly. "I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of taking them down single handedly. All I can do as the last of the Guardians is to keep my head above the water and out of the Dynasty's hands."

Ryo nodded slowly as he heard her out. Lea walked over to the door and held it opened for him. "Please. Just go home." She said. "You're friends need their leader more that I need a friend right now. Their security comes first before some lowly Guardian does."

Ryo opened his mouth to protest her statement when she made a swipe with her hand towards the door. The Ronin leader sighed in defeat and marched out as ordered. He stopped the door from slamming shut, holding a piece of paper in his hands. It was the same one with her address on it.

"Take this." He ordered.

Lea looked at it, noting that it was reversed with another addressed on the other side.

"We live in the Koji Manor just out of town." Ryo informed. "If you change you mind and come see us…Mia would really like to see you…we've got room over there for another. The Dynasty hasn't been able to lay a finger on it."

Lea took the paper. "Alright. Good bye."

Ryo stepped back as the door shut in his face. He sighed as he turned and left.

Lea leaned against the door, looking down at the paper in her hands. She read the address several times before walking back into the living room and throwing it in the trash.

* * *

"Hey!" Cye cried out as Kento snatched the bowl of popcorn out of his hands before he made it through the door of the kitchen. Hardrock took off like a deer through the dinning room into the living room where the others were sitting around the couches, waiting for the arrival of snacks.

"Don't forget to share." Sage said as he risked his hand and reached into the towering mountain of buttered popcorn. He came back with all his fingers accounted for.

Ryo laughed as he tossed Rowen the remote and went back to reclining on the floor with Whiteblaze. Strata passed by the TV and shoved a tape into the VCR.

"The teachers are frowning at this." Cye said as he walked in and handed off the rest of the snacks around to the others. "And I heard from your coach that you better be back in school soon before you miss more practices."

Ryo nodded as he was given a soda. "I should be alright tomorrow."

"Hey, movie is on." Kento mumbled through the food crammed into his mouth.

Mia smiled as she came to the doorway and looked in. The guys were collected in the living room. She sighed a little as she watched them laugh and eat with content, regardless of the impending danger of the Dynasty attacking them again. She closed the door as she pulled back and listened to the laughter that exploded in the other side of the walls.

_They are such good friends. They are all like family to each other._ Mia thought as she walked to the stairs and started going up.

Ryo had gone out that morning to find Lea. She had doing research when he came home again, a little annoyed with himself. He told her everything he had found out. And it troubled her tremendously.

Mia stopped in the doorway of her study, looking at the collection of arms and armors sitting on the mantle of a small book self. The computer sat quietly by itself on her desk, still on and waiting for her.

_I hope Lea will come around to his offer. _Mia thought as she walked up to the desk and picked up a book. _If she really is the last of the Guardians…she can't be left to defend herself with the Dynasty on the verge of massing another war. _She stopped at an image of the nine Ronin armors drawn onto the page. The illustrations had come from the mural in the old Ancient's temple at the bottom of the lake they had found the Jewel of Life in.

She had seen Lea's armor. A perfect duplicate of Ryo's Wildfire armor. She tried to envision the details the others had given her about the four missing Guardians. But there wasn't much for her to work with.

Mia put the book down and opened one of the sliding glass doors to the balcony. She crossed her arms and sighed a little as she remembered the night Anubis had been standing watch outside her window.

It had been a long time since she had thought about him.

_I hope you are planning to look over them again.

* * *

_

Lea rolled over in bed, listening to the wind blow the curtains around the window. She looked at the clock and knew it was still rather early for her to be in bed. But for the life of her, she couldn't get any sleep.

She sat up and turned on a light. She pulled away from the nightstand with a book in her hands and started to read a page or two when there came a loud clatter in the living room.

Lea sat there, listening for it again. She was greeted by the noise once more.

The Guardian threw back the sheets, holding the thick book in her hand and pulling the pellet gun out of the top shelf of the bedside desk and made her way to the door. As an after though, she snatched her armor crystal off the desk and powered up.

Lea held her ear to the door, listening. There was the sound of someone bumping up against the coffee table. She threw open the door and fired off a shot. The pellet struck the wall across the room.

She stood there, blinking in surprise and confusion. Where the hell was all the noise coming from? The Guardian took a careful step into the room, making her way along the wall with the windows and the sliding glass door to the balcony.

"Is anybody there?" She called.

"We came to pay you a visit." Dais's voice whispered into her ear.

Lea lurched back, throwing her book into the warlord as he came from the direction of the balcony. She tossed the gun into the shadows and only managed to break the toy against his chest plate. She was backed up away from the exits as Sekhmet came walking through of the doorway of the apartment.

"You've been living on borrowed time long enough." Cale said darkly, his eyes starting to glow blue. "Vallen has decided to hammer the final nail in your coffin."

Lea felt her back hit the wall by the TV. She reached for the first object she could throw, the picture on top of the machine. She let it fly at Dais, making him duck as shards of glass flew into his face. She made a mad dash between the two warlords, going for the balcony windows as weapons were pulled. The Guardian went crashing through the windows as she leaped over the couch and snagged the rail.

"Get her!" Sekhmet roared.

Lea swung her legs over the rail and plummeted to the ground with three warlords behind her.

* * *

AN: Let me apologizes for this year's lack of updating…and I hope some of my fellow readers are still around! I've been working on my new fan based story, Jak and Daxter: Aetas and building my website…Immortal Phoenix Studios. The site is beginning to incorporate the RW fanfiction I have written...and to make it up for my slacking off…DeviantArt (found in my profile) has a cover sketch sample for chapter 9….which I finished last night. Pop over there to get a taste of things to come!

-Meg


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